


Growing Pains

by ExhaustedSunflower



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Found Family, Mom!Anne, Soft!Aragon, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 38,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25817341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExhaustedSunflower/pseuds/ExhaustedSunflower
Summary: Of all the things to be least expected from a group of reincarnated queens of england, this is the strangest. Also perhaps the most infuriating, or entertaining, depending on who you are. It’s unexpected, inaccurate, and also quite ironic.Upon reincarnation, the queens had a general sense of what age they were in their new bodies. There seemed to have been some kind of order, though it didn’t make much sense. Kitty’s the youngest, and she was the youngest when she died. They had expected Jane to be the second youngest, so that first day when they woke up Anna had addressed the seemingly second youngest of the bunch.Only to be made aware that it is Catalina.Catalina de Aragon reincarnated as a sixteen year old.And she was very offended by this.
Comments: 372
Kudos: 257





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started this for fun, and I’m honestly having a blast with it. So I may as well publish it! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. 
> 
> Have no clue where this is going, but there are some laughs.

Of all the things to be least expected from a group of reincarnated queens of england, this is the strangest. Also perhaps the most infuriating, or entertaining, depending on who you are. It’s unexpected, inaccurate, and also quite ironic. 

Upon reincarnation, the queens had a general sense of what age they were in their new bodies. For example, Anne felt about twenty nine, and Kitty felt about fifteen. There seemed to have been some kind of order, though it didn’t make much sense. Kitty’s the youngest, and she was the youngest when she died. They had expected Jane to be the second youngest, so that first day when they woke up Anna had addressed the seemingly second youngest of the bunch.

Only to be made aware that it is Catalina.

Catalina de Aragon reincarnated as a sixteen year old.

And she was  _ very  _ offended by this.

The teasing is relentless. From both sides. Catalina will be intentionally bossy and tell the others to respect their elders, nevermind being half their heights and body weight. And the others will tell her she’s on ‘time out’ for behaving that way, or tell her she’s grounded. (They never do this to Kitty, mind.) 

Every time it’s brought up, Catalina acts as if the universe has personally slighted her. When questioned as to why, her answer is this:

“Because the universe has very well personally slighted me! I am a grown woman! I went through menopause! Now I’m supposed to be still growing? Are you kidding me?”

The rant that follows always brings quite a bit of laughter to the bunch, making Catalina even more angry. Eventually though, she tires herself out, and the others encourage her to sleep. This only starts her back up again, telling them not to tell her when to sleep. Which is only appreciated by everyone being told off; they had been enjoying the show.

The thing about their reincarnate ages, is that they all feel like they are exactly that age. Of course they have the memories of living to be whatever age they died. But the age they are now accurately represents their mental states as they are. Kitty is content being fifteen even though she died at nineteen. (She secretly thinks it would have been hilarious if she came back as actually nineteen and then everyone was older than Catalina.) Anna is perfectly okay with her age of twenty seven. Cathy had no issue with being twenty two, and neither does Jane. Catalina tries to act as old as she was in her old life, but she can’t help the teenager tendencies that come with the body and brain. 

-

“No.” 

“Catalina, please. It’s not that bad. Kitty will be there too.” Anne pleads. 

It's bad enough Anne, being the oldest, has legal custody over the two minors. But now she wants Catalina to join a youth group. 

“Kitty is an actual kid though. I’m not doing this.”

“It’s the social worker that wants you to! I would never ask, you know that.”

Catalina knows, she does. Anne at the very least has never used her legal power over Catalina to make her do anything she doesn’t want to. It’s really more for homeschool, something they’ve signed up for with Anne’s permission. Or just to make sure the city’s government can’t declare them orphans. Still doesn’t mean she’s going to agree.

“Anne, I really don’t want to.”

“I need to prove that you’re adjusting well and making friends your own age.-Something Sam said, not me!” She’s quick to correct her wording at Catalina’s glare. 

Sam, their social worker is, to put it simply, a piece of work. They have no regard for what Catalina or Kitty feel. Only wanting to prove Anne’s competence and ‘raising’ two teenagers after having to adjust to the times herself. None of the queens like Sam’s presence much. Especially not after the early days when Catalina and Kitty were almost removed from their shared home. That was scary, not that Catalina would admit to being attached to those assholes. They make fun of her height. Screw them.

“If you do this for me I’ll buy you a phone.”

Catalina is a little intrigued by the offer. Kitty and Catalina are the only queens who don’t have one. ( _ It’s an injustice. Ageism.) _ Sam’s idea once again. The social worker had said it was ‘hard enough on young minds to adjust to all this, and maybe they should wait on getting cell phones’, said it rots teens brains regardless. Kitty says she thinks it’s a load of shit, but not to Sam’s face. Catalina agreed with Kitty, and expressed herself enthusiastically. (She’d gotten an earful from all of the other queens, bar Kitty, for that. Worth it.)

“I’m listening.”

“A phone, with a plan and everything. All you have to do is join this club and talk to some other teenagers. Then tell Sam you had a good time. Deal?” 

She puts her hand out to shake. Catalina thinks about this, then adds to the deal.

“Kitty gets one too.”

“Fine.”

Catalina shakes Anne’s hand, and thus begins her experience with other teenagers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catalina is an old soul. 
> 
> Literally.

“I’m Kitty, and this is my kinda sister Lina!”

They’re stared back at by a group of friendly enough looking teens. 

“Kinda sister?” 

“We’re adopted.” Catalina gives the short explanation. No need to go into the whole reincarnation thing right now. It doesn’t seem any of these people recognize them from the news. 

The same boy who asked is about to ask another question, but another girl speaks up. Do kids still have to vie for attention nowadays? Perhaps young women are more vocal, given that this girl interrupted the boy who is clearly trying to speak.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you both! I’m Natasha. I’m the group leader, so if you have any questions I’ll be happy to help.” Catalina nods, letting Kitty do the talking. 

She’s not even sure where to start here. How do they talk? She’d never had any friends her age when she was sixteen the first time. Being Spanish royalty came with many older people’s respect and friendship.

“It’s nice to meet you too. What do you guys do here?”

That's a solid question. Point for Kitty, because one thing Anne did not explain was what the hell this place even is.

“Well, this is kinda a teen run support group for kids who have been in the system. Most of us have been through some tough times. We talk about some heavy stuff, but other than that we play games and just generally hang out.”

Right. So the youth group that Sam recommended to them is a childhood trauma support group. Perfect.

Because talking to normal teenagers wasn’t going to be difficult enough. 

“Right now we’re setting up Jenga, if you wanna join.”

“That sounds fun!” Kitty takes Catalina’s hand and pulls her toward the group. They sit on the floor in front of the table with the game on it.

There’s some general casual discussion over the course of the two hours that they’re there. It’s actually genuinely not that bad. Kitty has some friendly conversation with a girl her age, the name eludes Catalina though. Catalina is seriously amazed at how well Kitty just goes up to people and speaks. To modern century teenagers. Incredible. A few of the boys try hitting on them, too, only to be scared off by her scowls when one got too close to Kitty for comfort.

The most notable point in the afternoon though, is when Catalina got frustrated during Monopoly. She switches back and forth from Spanish and English. And that’s funny enough, but it’s not just any English, it’s old English.

_ “Que carajo! I will not buy that property! Thou may be a fustilarian, but I am no fool!” _

Now, clearly the group of modern teenagers did not understand the insult. But Kitty was absolutely beside herself with laughter. The girl is wheezing on the floor, She can’t even form words, which has everyone around them also laughing. 

“Glad you think this is funny, gatita.”

Eventually the time comes for everyone to leave, so they all pack up the games strewn about and grab their things.

Natasha catches up to them outside, where the two are waiting for Anne to pick them up. 

“Lina, Kitty! I wanted to ask, will we see you two next week?”

Anne’s car pulls up to the curb as they answer, 

“Probably.”

“Great! Looking forward to it. Bye Lina, bye Kit!”

They say their goodbye’s as they get into Anne’s car. Anne inquires about the nicknames. Getting a shrug from both of them.

“Alright, well did you enjoy yourselves?”

Kitty nods and Catalina decides once again to let her speak for both of them.

“It was actually pretty cool. We just played board games and hung out. Catalina lost her shit at monopoly.”

Catalina just snorts at the statement. An understatement, really. Her hard to understand speech lasted almost fifteen minutes. The teens around her learned a few new choice words in about three different languages.

Anne seems extremely happy that they didn’t hate it, and keeps her good spirit the whole ride home. They even stop for Burger King on the way back. Anne says it’s a treat for cooperating and celebration for actually enjoying themselves. When they actually do get home, instead of going to the living room with the others, the two girls decide to go up to their shared bedroom instead. (They’re the only ones who have to share. Again, it is an ageist injustice.) 

“What did you actually think?” 

Catalina knows Kitty has a habit of saying one thing to Anne and feeling the opposite. She never wants to hurt anyone’s feelings. Catalina has no such issue and will speak out for them both if Kitty has a problem. It’s a decent system.

“Kinda boring, honestly. Besides your speech, of course. But the games were entertaining enough.”

Catalina agrees, “Yeah, nothing interesting. How long do you think we’ll have to go?”

“A matter of a month, I think. Long enough that Sam thinks we’re ‘properly adjusted’ or whatever.” 

Catalina lays back on her bed. This is so strange. Being a teenager after dying in your fifties is weird. Having your enemy in your last life be your legal guardian in this one is frustrating. Reincarnation is off putting, but reincarnation with your second husband’s wives after you is even more so. And the fact that they’ve all settled into a system, something resembling family, was unexpected.

Maybe she came back as a teenager because she married her first husband at sixteen. She never talks about Arthur, the others don’t need to know, but it's a theory Catalina has.

“That one girl, Lia, asked us to hang out on Tuesday.” Kitty speaks up.

Catalina looks at her. “Why?”

Kitty shrugs, “I dunno, it’d be her and Nat.”

“Oh, okay then.” 

They go back into silence after that. At some point Kitty goes downstairs to get a snack. She brings Catalina a brownie. Not long after Catalina eats the brownie, their door opens.

“I have the phones for you two. Don’t tell Sam.” Anne walks in, moving to sit on Kitty’s bed, closely followed by Cathy. Catalina moves so she’s sitting up, and Cathy sits at the edge of her bed.

“We won’t, a deal’s a deal.” 

Anne grins, and hands them both their own boxes. “I’m gonna let Cath help you set them up, because I have no idea how to do that. Dinner will be in an hour.”

“Thanks, mom.” Kitty smiles back. 

‘Mom’ has become something of a joke between the two cousins. Something to do with Anne doing all the ‘mom stuff’. Anne takes it graciously most of the time, even though she did fall out of her chair the first time Kitty had said it. (Catalina thought that was a great day.) 

“No problem, kiddos.” Anne leaves the room before Catalina can berate her for calling her a kid.

They both immediately open the boxes, Cathy providing verbal instructions on how to set them up, and how to use them.

“Anne didn’t tell you this, but these are for emergencies. She didn’t like the idea of you two being out of the house and her not being able to contact you.”

Catalina tries not to let the show of care warm her heart as much as it did.

“How do you download Instagram on this thing?” Is how she responds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just her looking around the room of teens and being like,
> 
> ?
> 
> And then one of them giving her a nickname and her being like,
> 
> ???????? Am I one of the kids????
> 
> And then Anne being nice to her and shes like,
> 
> ?!?!?!?!?!?????
> 
> And her teenager brain malfunctions lmao


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted a bit of this to tumblr a while ago, its hilarious.
> 
> This version of Catalina really is just super chaotic and sassy huh?

“Oh! What the fuck?” Catalina looks over to the doorway to the kitchen in wonder. She’s never heard Cathy swear before.

“Catalina!” 

Now, what could she possibly have done to her? The other queens literally just got home. Catalina and Kitty have been home alone for about three hours. In a quest to find out, she goes to the kitchen, where she is met with Kitty and Cathy in an incredible scene.

“Catalina, why did you give Kitty a knife?”

Kitty is sitting on the counter with a steak knife, Cathy is standing at a safe six feet away from her.

“She said she felt unsafe.”

Cathy stares at her, astounded. 

“Well now I feel unsafe!”

“Oh.” Catalina looks back at her, then glances at Kitty, who is watching the exchange with interest. 

“Would you like a knife?”

-

“We do not use knives as a means of comfort, guys.”

Anna isn’t quite sure how she ended up being the one having this conversation, but Cathy had accepted the knife when offered, so here they are.

“It worked for me.” Kitty contributes. 

“Well, you feeling unsafe with a knife makes everyone else feel unsafe.”

“We could all carry knives?” 

“Catalina, no. I will lock the knife drawer.”

“Fine, I get it. Knives are for food and burglars.”

“What..?”

“That’s what Anne said before you all left!” She defends.

“Oh my God. Okay, since when do you listen to Anne?”

“When she started giving me permission to stab people.”

It’s just then that Anne walks into the room.

“I did not give you permission to stab people! I said in the event of a burglar grab a knife and hide in a closet with the police on the phone!”

“Therefore implying that me having a knife is okay!”

“Kitty, absolutely not. That is not what that means. I take it back. No knives. Knives are now off limits.”

“That makes me want to carry a knife at all times.” Catalina deadpans.

Anne facepalms, “Of course it does. We’re gonna need a lock on the knife drawer.”

“That’s what I said!”

“What did you say?” Jane asks, walking in with a curious face.

“We need to lock the knife drawer.” Anna supplies.

“Why?”

Anna’s about to respond to the question, but then Kitty speaks up again.

“I would like to say I’m getting mixed signals. Are knives actually off limits? Like for everything? I get stabbing, but what if we’re eating?”

Jane looks at the five of them, (Cathy has been quietly watching this whole time.) and slowly steps backwards, out of the room. Catalina has to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Obviously they know not to stab people, Catalina is honestly very impressed that Kitty picked up on the trolling immediately. They didn’t even have to talk about it beforehand. One look and they both knew that they were going to mess with the others.

“What if we’re eating, and then a burglar bursts through the window?” Catalina adds onto the question.

“Then you stop eating, put down your knife, and run away. Call the police.”

Sounds logical.

“But what if the burglar has a knife? Then am I just supposed to face off with this person knife-less?”

“ _ You don’t _ -“ Anne stops, looking at the two of them like she’s having a realization.

“You’re screwing with us.” She observes. Anna has a moment where she makes the same face Anne did, then she stands up.

“You know what? Your kids are impossible.” She directs at Anne.

Catalina balks at that, “I am not her kid!”

Anne smirks, going along with it.

“I know. I’m sorry for their behavior.”

“I’m right here.” She snaps. They shouldn’t talk about her like she isn’t there. They know she doesn’t like it.

“I mean what’re you to do? Sometimes kids are just like that.”

“I might have to ground them for this.”

“Are you sure? Surely just some extra chores would be enough. Cut down their screen time.”

“Oh piss off.” Catalina grumbles, walking toward the door. Kitty follows her.

“Guys, come on. You’ve really upset her.” Cathy chimes in for the first time.

The teens turn around at that, they all look at each other for a while. The silence is tense. Catalina had only been messing with them, they didn’t have to bring her age into it. They know it upsets her.

Eventually it’s Anne who breaks the silence.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you, just wind you up.” 

Catalina thinks about it. She seems sincere enough. And Anna is next to her agreeing. It wouldn’t hurt to forgive them.

“It’s fine. Just, don’t do that.” She says quietly. She allows her voice to be a bit vulnerable as she says it, letting some emotion seep in to show them she really means it.

Then, as fast as she lets that part of her out, it’s gone. Catalina and Kitty go to bed; and from that point on, that night is known as the Knife Incident™️.


	4. Chapter 4

“Catalina Trastamara!” 

Catalina’s head shoots up from her book. What happened? Whatever it is, does it really warrant the use of her full name? She walks over to the bottom of the stairs and looks up toward the voice.

“Yes?” She yells back. 

“Come up here right now!” That is Jane’s voice, and she sounds a little angry.

Now, she could tell Jane to either change her tone of voice or leave her be. Or she could walk upstairs. Catalina is quite curious about whatever Jane’s upset about that concerns her, though. She decides to walk up the stairs slowly, doing a bit of both.

When she gets to the top of the stairs she sees Jane and Anne standing in front of her bedroom. She stops at the top of the stairs.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s  _ wrong _ is that your room is a disaster! I thought I told you to clean it.” Jane snaps. 

Catalina actually  _ did _ clean the room. It had looked spectacular. But then Kitty wanted to look nice when she went out shopping with Anna, and Catalina said she could borrow some of her clothes. Well, one thing led to another and now you can barely see the floor. Not necessarily her fault, she very well could tell them it was Kitty who did this. Even if it is her stuff all over. That’s not what she does though.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t be telling me what to do.” She replies indignantly, well aware that this is going to escalate into an argument.

Anne then speaks up, “Catalina, you shouldn’t talk to Jane like that. Just clean your room please.”

“It’s fine the way it is. It’s not like you all have to look at it.” Catalina was going to clean it, but now she’s inclined to leave it like this forever. 

“I’m going to say this one more time, clean it.” 

Catalina’s eyes narrow at Anne. “Or what?”

“You’ll have to find out then, won’t you?”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Anne nods at her, then walks into the room without a word. She emerges with Catalina’s phone.

“You’ll get this back when your room is clean.”

“Give that back!” Catalina growls, walking toward Anne.

“No, this is what you get.”

“It’s not yours!”

“I bought it!”

“I’m not a child!”

“So stop acting like one!”

“Alright, you two. Enough. Catalina, Sam is coming over for dinner. Your room has to be clean by then. You’ll get your phone back when you clean your room. That’s the final word on the matter. Go.”

They all stand there glaring at each other for a while. Eventually, Anne walks toward her room, Jane in tow. Catalina lets out another growl and walks into her room, slamming the door behind her.

She doesn’t understand why their social worker has to be so involved. It's a special case, yes, but that doesn’t mean they’re welcome for dinner. She remembers when Sam tried taking them away. They actually had to stay somewhere else for a few weeks, until Anne had finally gotten legal custody. It appalled Catalina and Kitty that they were not involved in this process at all. Their opinions on the matter should have counted!

-

_ “You two are going to love it there! It’s a couple, they’re fostering a few other kids. Some are little, but some are older kids just like you.” _

_ They didn’t respond beside Catalina snapping that she’s not a kid. She’s the bloody former queen of England. Kitty is too, for that matter. They deserve more respect. _

_ Sam just laughed awkwardly, and tried to make small talk for a bit after that. When it was clear the two were not going to answer though, they just continued the drive in silence. _

_ The drive was very long. The place they were going to must have been across the whole city. They sat in the back seat, hand in hand, looking out the window. Catalina was trying to remember the way back home, she’s sure Kitty was doing the same. Eventually, they pulled up to a sketchy looking house, with children running around outside and a woman sitting on the porch absentmindedly scrolling through her phone. When the car stops, Sam says to stay put and gets out of the car. They watch them approach the woman and greet her. They talk for a bit, shooting glances and making gestures at the car every once in a while. Then Sam comes back and tells them to come meet ‘Jackie’. _

_ Jackie is a tall, lean woman, who Catalina thinks is very pretty. She seems relatively kind enough, but there’s something off about her. Maybe it's the smallish house behind her that a lot of kids keep running in and out of with no supervision. Too many kids to live comfortably in this size of a home. Are they seriously going to stay here? _

_ “It’s nice to meet you both. We have two beds set out for you already. If you want a tour Brin can give you one.” She gestures to a bored looking teenage girl beside her. They look at Brin, and she turns around, telling them to ‘come on then’. _

_ “This is the living room, that's the dining room, it leads to the kitchen. That's the door to the basement, where the older kids sleep. Then upstairs is the bathroom and three bedrooms. The younger kids get two of them, Jackie and Kurt get the master bedroom. Questions?” _

_ They mutely shake their heads, and with that Brin is gone. They stand there for a moment, not knowing what to do. But then the front door opens again, and Jackie walks in. _

_ “Tour over already?” They nod. _

_ “You two are quiet. Kurt’ll like that.” She laughs, though Catalina can’t tell what was actually funny about that statement. It was pretty ominous, actually. They just smile politely back at the woman. _

_ “How about you two go and put your stuff in the basement and get settled. I’ll call you up for dinner.”  _

_ It sounds like they are not being given a choice; and yet with nothing else to do, they decide to listen. Might as well. _

_ They head down through the basement door. The basement is badly lit, even with the light on. There’s a carpet on the floor, though you can feel rotted wood underneath it. Kitty spots two cots on the left of the room that have nothing on them. They must be the beds that were mentioned. They go and sit on them, contemplating the day. Leaving had been unexpected. They didn’t know Sam was going to show up and tell them to get in their car. They didn’t see Anne tearfully begging Sam not to take them coming either. They had been upstairs when Sam showed up, and heard the yelling.  _

_ It was pretty traumatic, honestly. Kitty seems to have closed up completely, which means Catalina has to protect her. Of course she has to protect her. She’s just a kid, after all. This entire situation is awful.  _

_ They eventually met Kurt, a buff man who lives up to the stereotype of his name. Kitty did not like him at all, so Catalina kept herself as a buffer between the two at all times. Even if he made Catalina uncomfortable too. They also met the rest of the children. Older kids who are every bit exasperated and angry with their situation; younger kids who don’t quite know what’s happening yet, but it's clear they’ve seen something small children should not have to see. The next three weeks they were cut off completely from the other queens. And they had to survive in this house, just as sketchy on the inside as is on the outside. When they finally got news that they were going home, it was such a relief. Kitty immediately started crying. They got into Sam’s car quickly, barely stopping to say goodbye to anyone. They both hoped they’d never have to see that place again. The car ride was once again spent in silence.  _

_ Arriving home was like having a weight lifted from her chest. She felt safe. It’s the first and only time she’s allowed Anne to hug her. Catalina supposes it was a mutual relief, they never spoke of it again. Sam left with promises to check in, and they all hoped that they wouldn’t actually. After that it was clear that they’d all do anything to stay together. Something had shifted, making it clear that this is a family. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you guys want to see some interactions with Sam the social worker? Or see a bit more into their time in the foster system? Or even more Jane being a mom? Because I don’t usually write her as mom friend, but I normally write Anne as big sister energy. So maybe Anne can be big sister/ mom and Jane can be mom who keeps shit in check???? 
> 
> Idk, let me know what you’d like to see.


	5. Chapter 5

Hanging out with Lia and Nat is a strange experience.

For one, they’re all just sitting in a mall food court. Just talking, there are no activities planned for the day. As if fun is just supposed to magically create itself. Or maybe Catalina is just being a pessimist, and this is supposed to be fun.

Also, Anne is there.

Well, Anne is in the mall somewhere not bothering them. With Anna, actually. But Anne and Anna are there nonetheless, so Catalina can’t help the feeling that she'll turn around and see one of them watching her. It sucks, because she might actually be having a good time if it weren’t for the constant being watched sensation.

Catalina stabs at her sesame chicken with a little more force than necessary as the other girls chat. She’s only here because Kitty convinced her. 

_ (We can tell Sam we made friends! And we’d have proof.” _

_ She’s well aware Kitty just wants to go out but doesn’t want to be alone. That’s the real reason she agrees. _

_ “Fine.”) _

Wondering how long they could possibly sit here for, she glances at Kitty. She’s having fun. Best not to ask when they’re leaving. She’s even slouching, opposite of how she normally sits, back straight and acting as though she needs to be absolutely perfect for anyone who lays eyes on her. (Catalina supposes she can’t judge for that, not that she was, because she and all the other queens also have that look about them when they’re not fully comfortable.)

“Hello ladies.”

Catalina gives the teenaged boy who walked up to their table an unimpressed stare. But Lia responds.

“Um, hi.”

“I was wondering, is this seat taken?”

It’s technically not, but Nat says yes anyway. Catalina decides she likes Nat, if only a little bit.

“Oh come on. I know it’s not!” His tone is cheerful, as if they’re all friends. He sits in the chair right next to Catalina.

“We’re having a girls day.” Lia tries to get him to leave. But he just stays seated.

“My name is Hansen. May I ask for you lovely ladies names?”

The three other girls at the table look very uncomfortable. Kitty especially looks like she wants the floor to open up and swallow her. So Catalina answers this time.

“No.”

He fumbles some, “Oh, uh.”

The others look a little shocked too. But Catalina doesn’t miss the gratefulness in their expressions too.

“Don’t be like that! You’re too gorgeous to be that mean.”

Gross.

Hansen places his hand on her leg and she freezes, going completely mute. No one has touched her like that in a long time. It’s never been with consent, either. The others can’t see it, since it’s under the table. All they see is Catalina suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable.

“I think you should leave now.” Nat says, voice rising a bit.

Hansen squeezes her leg as he answers, rubbing his thumb across the inside of her thigh. It feels disgusting. 

“I heard that this one’s name is Catalina. A beautiful name.” He says cheekily. He pinches her thigh, and Catalina jumps so hard she moves the table.

Suddenly the boy is pulled out of his chair and pushed away from the group. They turn to see who did it, and it’s Anne. Catalina has never been more happy to have her intervene in something before.

“ _ This one _ happens to be my family.” She seethes at him. “So I suggest you go back to the dumpster that you call home, asshat.”

Hansen puts his hands up placatingly, “We were just talking!”

“You were doing a lot more than talking! I should report your ass for sexual assault!”

Anna moves forward as Anne does, making sure she doesn’t pummel this teenager.

“Anne,” she warns.

“-I know.- Get your sorry ass out of here before she can’t hold me back anymore.”

The boy runs away, but not before yelling ‘ _ screw you, lady!’. _ Anne stands there, breathing angrily for a bit longer. Anna doesn’t let go of her shoulder. Then, after Anne sufficiently calms herself enough to not chase after him, they turn to the girls.

“Are you alright?”

They all nod at Anna. Including Catalina, because she can handle this. She can totally handle this.

“Do you want to stay?” Anna asks. She’s giving Catalina an out. From where the two women are standing they were able to see what Hansen was doing to her. 

Kitty says that she’d rather go home, actually. And the others agree, so they all make their way out of the mall. They bid their goodbyes to Nat and Lina, and go to try and find their care in the mall parking lot.

The car is silent when they all get in. They haven’t left the parking lot yet, Anne hasn’t even turned the car on. Catalina knows what’s coming.

“Catalina-“

“I really would rather not talk about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

The two women in the front seats look quite dubious about that, but Anne pulls the car out of the parking spot and starts their journey home. Kitty grabs her hand, and they don’t talk about it after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to formally apologize that everything I touch turns to hurt and angst. I really don’t mean to but then I was like Protective!Anne would be cool lets do that! And then,,, here we are.


	6. Chapter 6

The house phone is ringing.

Now, technically, Catalina is not allowed to answer that phone. Her, Kitty and Anne are very specifically forbidden from answering that phone. Most of the time, it’s some doctor or historian that they’ve given their number out to for business, but sometimes it’s a journalist who found their number and wants gossip. 

They’re not actually in the public eye, the media has not seen their faces yet. They’d said they didn’t want that to happen because a few of them came back as kids and they don’t want to put that stress on a child. Not technically a lie, but it was an excuse, of course. One that they all agreed on, because none of them wanted any outside public pressure in this life. They’re perfectly content with being unknown faces in a crowd, content being a makeshift family.

She’s not allowed to answer the phone, along with Kitty, because they’re the ‘kids’ of the house. And if it’s a journalist or a stalker and they figure out her identity they could plausibly out her whole life to the public. Also, Catalina had trolled one too many historians with outrageous ‘facts’. Anne’s not allowed to answer because she has no filter and she’s been caught saying rude remarks in several languages at the people invading their privacy. Cathy has done it as well, but has more control over herself. Anna is usually in charge of answering the phone.

But the phone is ringing, and she’s alone in the room. What if it’s business? What if it’s their doctor? Or something important? She gets up from the recliner and moves to sit on the couch next to the phone. 

She picks it up and presses the answer button, “Hello?”

“Hello! This is Ryan Hoil from That Hoil Radio Show! May I speak to the head of household?”

Oh, wonderful. A radio show host. Catalina lucked out, maybe she can have some fun here. She thinks about her options. Who even would be considered the head of household here?

“Speaking. May I ask what this is referring to?”

“I’d like to interview the six reincarnated queens of England. Who are you?”

They likely mean which one is she. This is where the fun comes in.

“My name is Catherine.”

“Catherine! Nice to meet you!”

_ A pleasure. _

“There are quite a few Catherine’s in your home. Could you specify which one you are?”

Catalina laughs, “Do you think you could guess?”

The man seems delighted that Catalina is entertaining his questions.

“Would you tell me if I got it right?”

“Probably not. But it would be fun, would it not?”

“It might be. But, could I ask you a few questions first?”

She shrugs, then realizes that he cannot see her, and verbally agrees to it.

“Can I ask you questions too? Oh! It’d be like a game!”

“Great! Sounds fun! First things first, did some of you actually come back as children, or is that just a rumor?”

“That would be true.”

“Really? That must be weird.”

It is. It is very, very weird.

“Your turn! What’s a question you have for me?”

“What’s your favorite weapon of choice?”

“My favorite weapon of choice?”

“Yeah! I like steak knives, but the others say that it’s not a good thing. What’s your favorite weapon?”

“Oh, jeez. I guess I could say a bat? Why do they say liking knives isn't a good thing?”

“That counts as a question, you know.”

“Sure, yeah. Go ahead.” 

He seems really interested in the answer. She’s got him hooked.

“Because apparently  _ ‘feeling unsafe with a knife makes everyone around you feel unsafe’,  _ and,  _ ‘we can’t all just carry around knives, Catherine’. _ ”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Now it's my turn. My favorite thing about this century is plumbing. There are toilets everywhere! What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever pooped?”

She’s well aware she’s taken over the interview, but her questions are undoubtedly more interesting than this guys. He laughs again, clearly not having expected that question.

“I think the weirdest place I’ve ever pooped was on a train.”

“ _ There are toilets on trains?!” _

This is news to her, the public transit trains don’t have toilets from what she’s seen. The places they put those things! It’s incredible.

Ryan starts to launch into a story about his time using a train toilet, and then Cathy walks in. Catalina pulls the phone away from her ear, mumbling a quiet swear. But it’s too late, Cathy has seen it.

“Hi Cath.”

“Did you answer the house phone?”

Catalina looks at her, then at the phone, which has gone silent now. Ryan is probably listening to this. She looks back at Cathy and shakes her head.

“No.”

Cathy’s eyes narrow at the phone in her hand. “So you don’t have the house phone, in an active phone call, in your hand right now?”

“Uh uh.”

She sighs, “Give me the phone.” She puts her hand out, moving to stand in front of Catalina. Catalina rolls her eyes, but hands over the phone, saying a quick bye to the interviewer.

Cathy places the phone to her ear, “Hello?”

Catalina hears a muffled version of the introduction she got when she answered. Cathy gives her a look, not a fun one, mind, and she just smiles back. She’s never angered Cathy before. This will be interesting.

“This is Catherine… No, I don’t think I should tell you that… Well, I’m glad you found her company ‘fun’, but really we don’t do interviews… That is something we all agreed to, yes… Right, okay… It’s a household rule, actually. Something I think she  _ forgot. _ ”

“I didn’t forget-”

“-Thank you for your understanding, have a nice day.” She hangs up, and goes back to staring down Catalina.

They just stare at each other for a while. Cathy has never had to reprimand Catalina before, and she doesn’t want to. When they first came back Cathy had avoided her like the plague. A little hard, because their social circle was exactly six people and two of them didn’t like Cathy. But still, she didn’t talk to Catalina unprompted for weeks. But then Catalina cornered her and asked what the hell she did to make Cathy mad at her, only to discover the woman just wanted to respect her boundaries.

( _ “You’re dealing with a lot, I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” _

_ “You’re my goddaughter, there is almost nothing you could do to make me not want to be around you.”) _

But one thing that they all often forget is that Cathy was one hell of a mother. Mostly to teenage girls, nonetheless. So her instincts to make sure that the two teenagers in the house are okay make Cathy not a viable option in not being treated like a child. To give her credit though, Cathy is often the one to remind the others that Catalina is an adult, and to treat her as such.

“Cathy, it’s not my fault.”

“Right, of course it’s not. Nevermind the fact that you know you’re not supposed to answer that phone under any circumstances.”

“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm. I’ll have you know I have a perfectly valid reason for answering that phone.”

Cathy doesn’t falter in her unrelenting glare, so Catalina just continues on.

“I was the only person here! And I didn’t know where anyone was.”

The woman raises an eyebrow at her, “And you couldn’t come and find one of us because…?”

“It was easier just to answer and take a message if it was important.”

“That was not important.”

“Yes it was! I was learning!”

“Learning  _ what _ ?”

“About the modern world! Did you know that there are toilets on trains? Isn’t that awesome?”

Cathy looks like she’s trying not to laugh at the response, so Catalina pushes it. 

“He also said that his favorite weapon of choice is a bat, so I’m going to have to look into that.”

“Catalina stop-“

“Who knows? Maybe it’ll be better than a knife.”

“I don’t think-“

“He was trying to tell me a story about the time he pooped on a train, but now I’ll never hear it. Thanks for that!”

That’s what gets her. Cathy lets out a wheeze she’d been trying to keep in, and doesn’t stop laughing.

With a promise that she won’t answer the phone anymore, she is let off the hook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to chaotic Catalina because she has my whole heart.


	7. Chapter 7

Since the whole Knife Incident™️, the queens have been reluctant to leave Kitty and Catalina home for too long. Much to the dismay of Catalina, who is absolutely indignant that they think she needs supervision. How dare they? 

They’re all taking the train, because they only have one car and the six of them can’t fit in it. Last time they tried to, Catalina had to sit on Jane’s lap. It is the first and only time she’s ever bitten someone. (Because she’s a lady, thank you very much.) Since then if all of them need to get somewhere they use public transit or walk.

The train ride to the uptown area is short. They’re really just having a day out for fun. Anna wants to see some of the more expensive stores, Jane wants to eat at a nice restaurant, Anne and Cathy want to see some art. Kitty just really loves seeing all of the modern advancements in action.

They pass by a street musician, and Catalina stops to give him some money. He’s playing the viola very beautifully. Catalina wants to stop and listen, she’s always loved live music. She doesn’t actually say this though, and she’s been trailing behind a bit, so the queens don’t know she’s stopped.

“Hi there, beautiful.”

Catalina is getting very frustrated with being hit on every time she leaves the house. Men in this century have no shame. Though, maybe no one flirted with her in her past life because she spent it either alone or at her husband's side. Or maybe she didn’t understand flirting and it all went over her head. Either way, the attention is not welcome. She turns around to tell whoever it is that she’s not interested, only to see that it’s the boy from the mall. The one with no sense of boundaries. She takes a step away from him.

“Go away.”

“Hey! I was just saying hi!”

He steps forward, and she steps backward again.

“We were interrupted last time. Couldn’t say or do everything I wanted with so many people. And then that crazy lady came around!”

Catalina bristles when he calls Anne crazy. She’s the only person that’s allowed to be rude to Anne, anyone else does it and they’ll lose their lives. Not because she cares about her, but simply because being a bitch to Anne is Catalina’s thing. Like a hobby.

“We’re alone now though. Gives us more freedom to talk.”

She’s about to retort that she’s not alone, but as she glances around her she notices that the others are gone. They must have kept walking when she stopped. Alright, so this time she is alone.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” She says instead. If they’re not here, she can handle it.

Her back hits a wall behind her, and there are people around but they’re all facing the musician in the opposite direction. She’ll have to figure this out. She’s small, smaller than him for sure. And he’s got her cornered, which is an issue. Being small sometimes means she can dodge through crowds pretty well; but alas, her small stature also means she is easily outmatched physically.

Hansen ignores her in favor of closing the gap between them. She tries to dodge him, but he places a hand on the wall on either side of her.

“Where were we then?”

The asshole is about to move in on her, but is again pulled away. 

“I thought I told you last time to get lost.”

Anne. It’s always Anne. It couldn’t be Jane, or Anna. It had to be Anne to see her cornered by this guy again.

If she lets Anne handle this herself she’ll get arrested. One look around and Catalina sees that Anna is nowhere near them this time around, so it's up to her to keep Anne from causing this boy bodily harm. Catalina gets off of the wall and presses herself into Anne’s side, making sure her arms are too busy holding her to strangle anyone. To hold her back from throttling this teenage boy. Not because she’s shaken at all. She’s kept her cool this long, she can keep it a bit longer.

Hansen leaves without too much of a fight this time, and Catalina hopes she never sees him again. When he runs off Anne grabs Catalina’s hand and pulls her along. She doesn’t say anything, and Catalina can’t tell if it’s because she didn’t wanna talk about it last time, or because she’s in trouble for falling behind.

“I wanted to see the guy playing the viola.” She explains. 

Her voice is suddenly slightly defensive, as if she’s done something wrong. It has a tinge of wanting Anne to understand, too. She wants Anne to understand that she hadn’t meant for that to happen. 

And Catalina thinks she very much has done something wrong. She’d stopped without telling anyone. They were probably looking for her. She’s probably worrying Kitty, they don’t take well to being separated. And if she hadn’t gotten distracted she wouldn’t have run into Hansen again. So that was her fault, too.

“I know sweetheart, I know.”

The tone and pet name catch Catalina off guard. She can’t even process it enough to decide if she’s offended by it or not.

Why is Anne not upset with her? By all accounts, Catalina had been in the wrong. And more importantly, why would Catalina  _ care _ if she’s upset Anne in any way. Perhaps it’d be easier to deal with, if Anne was angry with her for staying behind after explicitly stating that she is not trusted alone. Then Catalina could tell her to go stick her attitude up her ass and she’d be able to predict the conversation. 

They meet up with the others, and Anne still doesn’t let go of Catalina’s hand. Catalina doesn’t pull away either, so they continue the rest of the walk about the city like that. Anne makes sure they all stop when she sees Catalina’s gaze linger on a street performer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know I keep hurting her. I’d apologize but we all know I’m gonna do it again.
> 
> You can yell at me in the comments, if you want.


	8. Chapter 8

“Go ask her, then!”

“She’s going to toss me out of her room the minute I even begin that conversation.”

“Oh come on, it’s worth a shot. She’ll understand; she’s not  _ actually _ a moody teenager.”

Anna laughs, cutting into Anne and Cathy’s conversation.

“Yeah, she’s actually a moody fifty year old woman.”

Anne rolls her eyes, “Helpful, you’re both very helpful.”

Anne has just gotten off the phone with Sam, who wants Anne to spend more quality time with Catalina. 

_ (“That’s your homework for the month!” _

_ “You’re aware I stole her husband, right? Stole her claim to the crown? We’re not  _ friends _ Sam. We like each other more now, what with all the freedom and no pressure from an entire country. But it’s still not like she wants to just hang out.” _

_ “That’s exactly why I want you to spend more time with her! Get her out of her shell!) _

Anne quite frankly doesn’t have the energy to fight with Sam anymore. Let alone explain that just because Catalina is reincarnated as a sixteen year old, it doesn’t mean she’s a child. She’s the oldest of the bunch, actually.

She pauses outside of Catalina’s room. There’s talking, Anne can hear what’s being said through the door.

_ “Oh come on! It’ll be fun!” _

“I somehow doubt that.”

Catalina is currently using Cathy’s laptop, so Anne gathers she’s on a video call or something alike with one of those girls from the youth group.

_ “Please?” _

“Nat, I really can’t. Even if I wanted to go- which I do not- Anne wouldn’t be easy to persuade with that one. And even I won’t pretend she’d be wrong for it.”

_ “You only listen to your mom when it’s convenient to what you want! Please just ask?” _

_ Mom? What? _

What she expects from that comment is an argument. But, even more baffling, that’s not what happens.

“Fine,  _ Anne! _ ”

Anne jumps when she hears the shout, then opens the door.

“Oh, there you are. Why were you out there?”

Still startled from Catalina’s response to Anne being called her mom, or lack thereof, she has to force her brain to move again.

“Um, I had to ask you something. Why were you calling me?”

Seemingly unfazed by Anne’s disorientedness, Catalina presses on.

“Nat wants me to go with her to a three day festival two towns over. There will be other people there and we’d be pretty much alone with these strangers. And alcohol and drugs, that's also a thing that will be there. Can I go?”

_ “That is so not a fair way to ask.” _

She zoned out half way through the question, wondering why the hell that girl would call her Catalina’s mom. Why Catalina didn’t riot over it. Needless to say, she has no idea what was just said to her. Her brain has short circuited.

“Um, I don’t see why not?”

_ “Yay! Thanks Lina’s mom!” _

There it is again! What is happening?

Catalina furrows her eyebrows, looking at Anne like she’s trying to figure something out.

“She said no.”

_ “What? No she didn’t.” _

“You’re breaking up. Oh, look, you’re frozen too. What a shame.”

_ “Lina don’t you dare-“ _

“I guess I’ll have to talk to you later. Bye Nat.”

She shuts the laptop, and looks back at Anne. Anne, who is still just standing there, shellshocked.

“What did you need to ask me?”

“What?”

Catalina looks at her with something akin to concern. “Why are you acting so weird?”

Why is she acting weird? Why is Catalina acting so weird? If there was one thing Anne was certain of, it was that Catalina hated being reminded she is a child in this life. But one thing she hates even more is being reminded that Anne is her guardian. For that girl to call Anne her mom? Twice? And then for Catalina to just, not say anything? That’s big. What she can’t figure out is why.

She breaks out of her stupor when Catalina tilts her head slightly, as though she’s trying to figure out a puzzle.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Hm,” The girl looks down at her blanket in thought, fiddling with the edge of it. “Okay.”

“I came up here to talk to you about something!” She says as she recalls suddenly why she was even here, making Catalina jump.

“I just got off the phone with Sam,” The start of the sentence is met with a groan, which Anne chuckles a bit at before continuing, “And they want us to spend more quality time with each other. Like, by ourselves. Apparently us bonding is important to your development.”

“That’s not-  _ we’re not _ \- I don’t even know where to begin with that.”

“I told them! I said,  _ ‘It’s a miracle in and of itself that we don’t want to kill each other. You shouldn’t push it.’ _ And they were like,  _ ‘Spend more time with her! Get her out of her shell!’ _ As if you’re a recluse teen and not a fully grown adult woman in a teenage body who’s dealing with reincarnation and all that that implies about the universe.”

“Because they’re a dumbass.”

“Yes, exactly.” She agrees, causing Catalina to laugh.

“So when do we start?”

Anne raises an eyebrow, “You’re cool with this?”

Catalina shrugs, “In the long run we don’t really have a choice, do we? Sam’s just gonna ominously allude to putting us in the system if we don’t listen to their advice.”

“Fair point.”

-

They take the car, and Anne regrettably lets Catalina pick the music. She’s currently playing some god awful song about being an all star, whatever that means, and singing along completely off key. When asked if she likes the song, Anne just smiled and kept looking at the road. Is this what kids listen to now? Is this what Kitty listens to? Fortunately their car ride isn’t very long, so they get out before Catalina can pick another song.

“This is it.”

They’re standing outside of a small sandwich shop, with several chairs inside and out. The sign above the door says  _ Breadwinner _ , which Anne had thought was a very funny name the first time she came here with Cathy. She’s taking Catalina out for lunch, and she’s a lot like Cathy, so Anne thinks Catalina will like this place.

When they walk in they go straight up to the counter and order. The place isn’t very busy, there’s no line and only two customers sitting around the small shop. When Catalina attempts to pay for her sandwich, Anne intercepts the money and pulls out her own wallet. 

“My treat.” She explains when Catalina looks at her confused. She hands Catalina back her money as they walk to the other end of the counter to wait for their food.

There’s tense silence while they wait. Neither of them know what to say, or do.  _ ‘Bonding time’ _ , right, as if they need any more reason to speak to each other. They’re not exactly friends. Although Catalina will begrudgingly admit that Anne is a good caretaker, she also is very reluctant to allow Anne to get to know her in any way other than how she knew her back then. She would have been a good mother to her Elizabeth, but she is not Catalina’s mother.

They pick up their sandwiches when their number is called, and go to sit outside. It’s bright, but not too sunny. The perfect weather for sitting outside. Catalina can’t help but think that they could have made sandwiches and ate outside at home, but Anne paid for her food, so she shouldn’t complain.

She bites into her sandwich and her eyes widen in surprise.  _ That is a damn good sandwich. _

Anne laughs, “I take it you like this place?”

She’s about to answer, but she hears her name being called from across the street. Well, actually, a shortened version of her name that she didn’t agree to. She turns to look at whoever it is, and groans when she sees them. 

“Oh no.”

“What? Who is that?”

The person crosses the road to come speak to her, and all Catalina can think is,  _ Why? _

“Cattie! Hey sweetie! How are you doing? How’s your new home?”

Catalina gives Jackie the sweetest smile she can manage as she greets her. 

“I’m great, home is good.” She tries to keep her answers short enough that Jackie will leave her alone. Unfortunately the woman doesn’t take the hint. Or maybe she just doesn’t care if Catalina doesn’t want to talk to her. That sounds more likely.

Anne cuts in, clearly not liking not knowing what’s going on, “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Anne.”

“This is the woman who adopted Kitty and I.”

Jackie looks at Anne with a bit of thinly veiled scrutiny, and asks how that’s working out for them.

“Great, Anne’s a good mom.” Catalina defends immediately. Anne straight up chokes on air at the term. Catalina looks at her slightly alarmed before Jackie continues.

“Good, good! I do have to go, I’m meeting Kurt. But I’ll tell everyone at home you said hi.”

_ Didn’t ask you to, but sure.  _ “Uh huh. Bye!”

Jackie waves and walks away, and Catalina turns to Anne.

“You okay?”

Anne, still gasping for air, has to get herself in order before answering.

“Yeah- yeah. I, uh, I’m good. Who was she?”

She doesn’t look okay, but now Anne is looking at Catalina for an explanation. One that Catalina doesn’t particularly want to get into. But she supposes she should explain.

“That’s the woman we stayed with when Sam took us away.”

Anne nods, that makes sense. No one they know calls Catalina ‘Cattie’, she’s not sure how this woman is able to call her that and live to tell the tale, though.

“I never asked, how  _ was _ that exactly.”

It was hell on the older queen’s side. They all jumped through hoops and worked nonstop to get their two missing family members back.

“Nothing notable. Annoying people, lots of kids, uncomfortable beds. Kurt was weird.”

“Kurt?”

“Jackie’s husband. Big guy; made everyone around him uncomfortable.”

“I imagine Kitty didn’t appreciate his presence.”

Catalina huffs out a sound that could have been an attempt at a laugh. She keeps her eyes on her sandwich as she answers. 

“No, but I kept him away from her.”

Anne observes Catalina for a bit. She says her time in a foster home was nothing notable, but she’s clearly uncomfortable even thinking about it. The way she talks about this Kurt guy is raising some red flags too.

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

Catalina shakes her head, “Don’t thank me for that. I’ll always look out for her.”

“I know.”

She should leave it there. Catalina definitely doesn’t like talking about it, or at the very least it makes her uncomfortable. But Anne knows that if she doesn’t press it now it may never come up again.

“What- If you don’t mind me asking- did you do?”

Catalina looks confused, so Anne asks her question a bit more explicitly. “I mean, like, you said you kept this Kurt guy away from her, for example. How were you doing that?”

“Oh.”

The tone of voice alone is enough to make Anne almost take the question back. She’s suddenly a lot quieter, looking a bit lost in thought. Hopefully this won’t put too much of a damper on their afternoon.

“I just stayed between them when he was near. If he said something to her I’d answer. I only actually recall her speaking to him once the entire time we stayed there. If he was around, I dealt with him.” 

“But you said he made everyone around him uncomfortable?”

“Yes?”

“So he made you uncomfortable too?”

Catalina just nods and takes another bite of her sandwich, likely to stave off answering the question fully. They sit in another silence, though this time it’s less uncomfortable and more contemplative. Catalina recalling her time in a strangers home, and Anne wondering how far the discomfort from the man really went.

Just as Anne was losing hope for the energy of their time out, Catalina continues the conversation.

“You know, Kitty looks out for me too.”

“How so?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this? A plot line and not a random one shot in the universe? Who would have guessed? This’ll go on for a bit.


	9. Chapter 9

_ “Cattie! Kitten! Come help with dinner!” _

_ Kitty groans as she stands from her spot on Catalina’s bed. They’ve been in a foster home for about five days, no contact with any of the others, and the people here are proving to be quite bossy. She holds her hand out to help Catalina up from the floor, where she’d been reading. It’s Cathy’s book, actually. ‘Lamentations of a Sinner’, she’s read the book before. This is her second read through of it since they got to this house, but she definitely read it at home, too. _

_ As is what seems to be the usual, the only people accompanying them in the kitchen are Jackie and two of the other older girls. Brin being one, and the other is a girl named Gianna. Why they’re the only ones who are told to help around the house, they haven’t been able to figure out yet. Dinner happens to be relatively easy today; they’re just smashing a ton of leftovers from the week into something that resembles a well balanced meal. As they eat, the smaller children chatter on about something or another. A game they made up today, or dreams of saving up to buy a video game they’d never be allowed to play regardless.  _

_ Catalina and Kitty sit at the end of the table near Jackie and Kurt in silence. They’ve been sitting there since the first night, and haven’t been able to move their spots. They’d been directed there by Kurt, something along the lines of keeping an eye on the new ones. It was normal, or normal as they’d come to understand it. There was no telling that things would go wrong so quickly. _

_ “Hey Cattie,”  _

_ One of the boys attempts to get her attention as she clears the table with Brin. Kitty is doing the dishes with Gianna, while Jackie and Kurt talk about their day just behind them. Catalina doesn’t stop what she’s doing, she’s said multiple times that her name is Catalina. She lost the fight about that with Jackie and Kurt, but she’s not giving up with the children in the house. If they won’t call her by her name, she won’t respond. He tries calling her again, to no avail.  _

_ Then, he takes her necklace. He just rips it off of her neck. She whips around to look at him, and he’s just admiring the necklace in his hand.  _

_ “Give that back.” She demands, putting the plates in her hand back on the table. _

_ “Oh, so now you want to respond. Just for that, I think I’ll hold onto this.” _

_ She steps forward and he tosses it over her head, when she turns she sees that another kid is now holding it, smirking. _

_ “It’s very pretty, you could probably get a bit of money for it.” _

_ That necklace is very important to Catalina, she woke up in this life with it on. It’s a small heart with her daughter's initials engraved into it. All the mothers of the group of queens have something like it. _

_ “Give it to me!” She lunges for it again, only for it to be thrown through the air once more. _

_ Kurt catches it this time. _

_ “What’s going on here? Are you two messing with the new girl?”  _

_ His tone is mocking, as though he’s not taking her clear distress seriously.  _

**_Keep your cool. Do not yell at this man. He is providing you a bed. You need him to be happy with you so he stays away from Kitty._ **

_ Her inner monologue these days is just that. Her telling herself to stay calm, don’t lose it. Life in this house is easier if she keeps the adults on her side, and he’s already wary of her because she won’t let him even look at Kitty. She holds her hand out for her necklace, but Kurt does not hand it to her. He looks at the boy who took it in the first place for an explanation. _

_ “I only took it because she was being rude.” _

_ “Yeah, she wasn’t responding when he was talking to her!” _

_ Kurt looks at her with a condescending smile, “Is this true, babygirl?” _

_ It takes everything in her not to visibly grimace at the term of endearment. He calls all the girls here that, it’s not specifically her. Except for Kitty, Catalina made it very clear when they first met him that he was not to call Kitty that. Or even look at Kitty. He’s not allowed to be near Kitty without Catalina there as a buffer. _

_ “Can I have my necklace back, please?” _

_ Kurt laughs at the request and throws an arm around Catalina. And just as he’s about to tease her some more, but his arm is ripped off of her. They all stand shocked for a moment, unable to even believe what they’re seeing. But it is.  _

_ Kitty is standing inches from Kurt at her full height. (Which is admittedly not too tall. But taller than Catalina is, so slightly more effective than if it were her.) Her stony face is also a shock, she looks completely unafraid as she faces a man that normally makes her feel small. He’s even slightly intimidating to Catalina, who isn’t thrown by much. _

_ “Don’t touch her.” _

_ “Excuse me?” _

_ “Don’t. Touch. Her.” _

_ Jackie decides to cut into the conversation, she’s just been observing so far. _

_ “They were only playing around. Cattie, tell her.” _

_ Catalina can’t tell her, because she’s having trouble thinking currently. Woah. _

_ “Don’t call her that!” Kitty snaps back, “She’s told you before that she doesn’t like it.” _

_ Where is this coming from? Kurt decides that he wants to take back control of the conversation, and looks down at Kitty. _

_ “Kitten, that is enough. We were only messing around.” _

_ “No! Don’t touch her, and don’t call her that!” She snatches the necklace out of Kurts pocket, where they saw him stuff it when he grabbed Catalina. _

_ “And don’t touch her stuff.” She growls. _

_ Before either of the adults can reprimand her for her behavior, which they definitely and undoubtedly look like they want to, Kitty turns to the boys who started it. _

_ “If you fuck with her again, I will do more than yell. I will hurt you.” _

_ “Damn girl, okay.” _

_ “Yeah, fine.” _

_ They both leave after the fire was directed at them, and one glance around the room tells them that the other two girls finished cleaning and left the room. That leaves Catalina, Kitty, Kurt and Jackie. _

_ “You know what, attack cat? I’ll leave you two alone.” The joke falls flat, and Kitty glowers at him. _

_ “Good.” _

_ Kurt takes Jackie and leaves, and Catalina stands there reeling. She stares at Kitty, who walks toward her.  _

_ “Here.” She says softy, holding the necklace out for Catalina to take. Catalina takes it, thanking her quietly. _

_ What was that? She’s never seen Kitty act like that. Normally it’s Catalina doing the protecting, it hadn’t occurred to her that Kitty might also react that way if the other was harmed at all. How is she meant to respond to what just happened?  _

_ Kitty directs a shell shocked Catalina to the basement, where Brin is, but no one else seems to be. The girl doesn’t even acknowledge them, so they continue on. She sits on the bed, Catalina next to her, and holds her hand out. _

_ “Can I see it?” _

_ Catalina nods, handing over the jewelry.  _

_ “Shit, the clasp is broken. We’re gonna have to get it fixed.” _

_ “I don’t have any money.” Is all she can say.  _

_ Neither of them have any money, and they don’t know when they’re going to be able to go home. This entire situation is frustrating. Kitty assures her that they’ll figure it out.  _

_ This isn’t right. Kitty being the protective one isn’t normal, Catalina needing the comfort isn’t normal. _

_ “Are you okay?” _

_ “Catalina, I’m perfectly fine. Are you okay?” _

_ She honestly doesn’t think that she is. But she has to be, she has to keep it together. Besides, Kitty just spoke directly to Kurt for the first time. Catalina makes a mental note to make sure it’s the last time that happens, too. Even if she has to get loud herself, she can’t let that happen again. If Kurt was a little more quick tempered, if Jackie wasn’t in the room, if they weren’t all shocked that it was Kitty yelling, who knows what could have happened? _

_ “I’m good. Don’t ever do that again.” _

_ “What? Catalina-“ _

_ “Kit, promise me you’ll never do that again.” _

_ “I can’t! You know I can’t do that!” _

_ “Yes, you can. Don’t defend me, I can handle them. You shouldn’t get involved.” _

_ “Guys?” _

_ They both snap their heads to Brin, who is now sitting up and watching them argue. _

_ “What?” _

_ “I don’t think you should argue with Kurt again. Take it from me, he gets weird when he’s trying to prove he’s in charge. Just, they expect it from Catalina. But not from you, you shouldn't act like that.” She’s looking at Kitty with the most earnest look they’ve seen on her, but Kitty can’t believe what she’s hearing. _

_ “So, what? I’m just supposed to let them do that to her? No.” _

_ Brin bites her lip, and Catalina decides to wait for what she has to say. Maybe she can convince Kitty to stand down. She doesn’t need anyone fighting on her behalf. _

_ “I’ll tell you what, I’ve got an attitude problem. If it goes too far, I’ll get involved, take the attention onto myself.” _

_ “That’s nice, but you don’t need to-“ _

_ “Deal.” _

_ “Kitty!” _

_ “What?” _

_ Brin laughs, “You guys really care about each other, huh? It’s not often you see people in the system looking out for each other like that. I hope you make it out.” _

_ The words are so kind that Catalina struggles with a response. They thank her, and it doesn’t feel like it’s enough. _

_ - _

_ “I hope I never see you two again.” _

_ From anyone else that would sound rude. But from Brin, on their way out to the car awaiting to take them home, it’s the nicest thing they could ever hear. They hope to never come back there either, so they return the sentiment and run out the door. Jackie and Kurt attempt to say their goodbye’s, but barely are able to see them as they pass by in an excited blur, running to the car.  _

_ Honestly, though it’s unlikely, if they saw Brin again it’d be okay. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that wanted to see the foster home in more detail, there you go.


	10. Chapter 10

Cathy answers the door when there’s a knock. It should be Sam; the social worker is coming over for lunch. Catalina’s not allowed to answer it for Sam anymore because last time she did she shut the door in their face immediately after opening. Kitty doesn’t like answering the door no matter who is on the other side. That leaves the adults. Cathy just so happened to be unlucky enough to be closest to the door when Sam arrived.

“Hello! It’s very nice to see you all! Catherine, Katherine, you two look very nice.”

Catalina tries her best to smile at the compliment. It’s kinda hard considering she’s tired of the C(K)atherine jokes already. It’s fine if she makes them, or one of the others, but it's getting a little ridiculous. Kitty manages to say hi, which is way more effort than Catalina had anticipated. 

“Catalina. Her name is Catalina.” Anne corrects them. She sends Anne a grateful glance as Sam backtracks and corrects themself.

They all sit at the table at their usual seats, except there’s now an extra seat beside Anne where Sam is joining them. There’s a ton of food, buffet style, in the middle of the table. There’s all kinds of food from where and when they each grew up, as they usually do it. 

Attempts at small talk are made, the social worker tries to initiate more than a two word response from Catalina and gets nothing but polite shakes of the head. Cathy is the one keeping the energy up. Ironic, because Cathy is almost as bad at small talk as Jane, who is the household awkward introduction guarantee.

Sam manages to make eye contact with Kitty, much to the girls dismay. “So! How is everything with you, Katherine?”

“Everything is going fine. Same as usual.” Kitty leans a bit to her right, getting closer to Catalina.

They seem to zero in on the fact that Catalina and Kitty are sitting side by side, so close they’re almost touching. This is normal, though neither could really say why. The two like to be next to each other or know where the other is at all times. They’re not so bad that they freak out when they’re not able to do those things, but it certainly is a place of comfort for them.

Seeing the eyes on their personal space preference, Catalina raises an eyebrow, daring them to say something about it.

The thing about Sam, is that they always, _ always _ , will say something.

“How is the separation anxiety progressing? Is it something we need to work on?”

“If you so much as think of making Kitty and I stay away from each other, I will-“

“- _ Appreciate the effort at helping them adjust _ !” Anne cuts in, holding onto the hope that Catalina will somehow back down for the sake of her not having to argue with this person anymore.

Catalina is annoyed, but goes with it because Anne honestly sounds kinda stressed out.

“Yes, exactly. But as much as we  _ appreciate  _ your efforts, I don’t think separating us would be a good idea.”

Sam glances around the table at the other women watching the conversation. “Of course I wasn’t going to separate you two! I would never!”

Anna gives her approval, “That’s for the best. Those two are attached at the hip.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“No,” Jane says, “I’d say it’s fairly accurate. You do everything together.”

“Well we’re close. So what?” Kitty defends. 

It’s kind of funny, because it’s not like anyone is saying it’s a bad thing. Yet they both are getting quite defensive about it. 

Sam changes the subject after noticing the potential hostility.

“How’s that youth group I recommended for you two? I heard you love it!”

Love is a strong word. Honestly even like is a strong word. More accurate would be putting up with it, or taking one for the team. The heart to heart talks are  _ weird _ . Mostly because Catalina and Kitty’s trauma is so different from the other’s. 

Where they dealt with the stress of being a monarch, these teens deal, or dealt with, the stress of the foster system. Where they need to work on moving past their husband treating them awfully in order to go after another woman, in one’s case killing her, the teens around them are attempting to heal from broken familial connections. 

And even after all of that, the queens aren’t even public faces yet. The youth group have no idea that Catalina and Kitty are two of the six reincarnated ex queens of England. 

What are they supposed to say? What support are they meant to offer? The only good thing that came from the group is Nat and Lina, who have been absolutely integral in their adjustment to being teenagers.

“It’s great. We made some friends.” Kitty responds.

Kitty almost always is the one to respond about the group. Catalina never knows what to say. She’s old, much older than the rest of them, even older than the queens in her home. Would it be odd if she enjoyed it? Would it be a good thing, considering how old she is in this life? Is it even appropriate that she considers those girls her friends?

Too many uncertain thoughts to form a normal response. Best to let Kitty handle that.

There’s also the fact that Kitty is much better at speaking to people than her. Catalina is confident, headstrong, and downright fantastic at public speaking. She can debate with the best of them, she can project specific feelings and emotions into a speech for masses. Speaking to groups of people, that’s her jam. Speaking to one person about herself? Not so much.

This is where Kitty comes in. Catalina noticed very quickly that the girl is charming. She has the perfect smile, the perfect tone of voice, an approachable demeanor. All around Kitty is just as charismatic as Catalina is outspoken. There was no doubt they’d make the perfect team in any situation. Kitty can talk her way through anything or anyone. She knows exactly what to say, how to say it, and knows what to expect as a response. Catalina can convince any group of people to do anything. She has no problem speaking up and can demand the attention of any room. 

Really, the difference between the two is that Kitty is likable as a talent, and Catalina is respectable as a talent. As mentioned before, they make a good team.

Perhaps this is why they always are near each other. No matter what comes their way, one of them would have a solution. They know the other is dependable, and they’re protective of each other enough to know they have each other’s backs. The trust that’s there is like nothing they’ve ever had before.

“Well that's great! What are they like?” 

Yeah, Catalina decides, this is definitely a situation to let Kitty handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a bit to upload, I’m so BUSY.
> 
> Anyways, here we get into Catalina and Kitty not liking being away from each other. It’s a trust thing, really.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: the word fuck is said.

A week after Catalina and Anne’s day out to lunch, Anne has to take Catalina and Kitty out together. Not for something fun, or for a bonding experience. No, they have a doctors appointment.

Doctors' offices in this century are terrifying. There’s technology that would be considered witchcraft in their time, half of the equipment looks like torture devices, and the doctors and nurses use terminology they’ve never dreamed of.

And, in Catalina’s typical luck with public outings, she’s run into people she doesn’t like every time she’s gone so far. 

Seriously, what’s with that?  _ Every time  _ she leaves the house. It can’t be chance, at this point she’s convinced it’s a curse.

Last time it was that one weird girl from their youth group. It was very awkward, because neither of them make a particular effort to speak to this girl, Ella. But she was very excited to see them and wouldn’t stop talking to them,

But even worse than that is that this doctor is apparently a pediatrics doctor, so there are a bunch of awful children running around crying. Kitty never liked kids much, so she usually brings a pair of earbuds to drown everything out. Catalina actually likes children, but these kids suck, in her humble opinion. And so Kitty shares her music with her.

Usually when they have these appointments only two of the older queens join them, but this time they have all four. Because Sam heard about the excursion and suggested they all make it a day out.  _ Fun. _

The waiting room is filled with miserable little kids and even more miserable parents, so it’s a relief when their names are called. They leave uncomfortable looking Cathy and Anna in the waiting room and take Jane and Anne with them. Anne goes into an office with Kitty, and Jane with Catalina.

The appointment is boring, trivial small talk as the doctor asks standard questions.

-

“Any medications?”

“No.”

“Any pain?”

“No.”

“Trouble sleeping?”

“No.”

“Trouble with appetite?”

“No.”

Once the round of standard questioning is over, they get into the interesting stuff. Well, interesting for them, not for the queens. For the queens it’s become a little tedious.

“Right, so how are you coping with your new world? Gotten used to this body yet?”

“It’s as if I’ve always had this body. This life is strange, but the transition has been okay.”

“Strange how?”

Kitty fights the urge to roll her eyes at the woman doing her exam. 

“Well, technology, for one. And like, the food sources? I can’t eat swan, and the spices are way too cheap.” 

She pauses as if those are her only examples, then “Oh, also coming back from the dead. That’s weird, getting used to not being dead. And like,  _ with  _ my head.”

The woman nods as if she’s agreeing. It’s all too clear she doesn’t know how to respond to that.

Kitty’s face lights up as she has another thought.

“Am I technically a zombie?”

-

Catalina’s exam is going at a faster pace. Mostly because Catalina has an attitude and Jane is too uncomfortable in a doctors office to make her stop.

“Look at the light.”

“Okay- ah! It burns!”

“ _ Are you okay? _ ”

“Yeah, are you?” She laughs at the distress on the man's face. She does that literally every time, and he always falls for it!

He shakes his head in annoyance and continues the exam. Every time she pulls something like that, he talks a little faster.

-

Eventually their appointment ends, and they all leave the doctors office. All very happy to not have to deal with that place anymore.

“Can we get ice cream?”

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Ice cream is for people who don’t harass pediatric doctors.”

“Cathy didn’t harass a pediatric doctor.” Kitty responds as they make their way down the street.

Jane looks at the girl, suspicious of what her motive in mentioning the other queen is. Catalina seems to get it though, because she immediately adds, “Anna didn’t harass a pediatric doctor either!”

“You’re damn right I didn’t!” 

Anna high-fives Catalina, who smiles knowing that Anna is on board with whatever is happening.

“So?”

“So they had to wait with all those screaming kids. They deserve it, we  _ have  _ to go get ice cream. For them.”

Kitty nods, “Exactly, for them.”

Anne laughs when Cathy agrees from the back of the group. “You know what, Jane? I think they want ice cream.”

“You think?”

“There’s an ice cream place around the corner here!”

They all turn to look at Kitty, who as far as they know has never been around this area without them.

“What? I know directions.” She defends.

Cathy cuts in, “Hey, the park is right here. How about half of us find a good spot here, and the others go get the ice cream?”

They all agree, parting ways. Catalina goes with Jane and Cathy to the park, the other three going with orders for six ice creams.

_ (“Are you going to be able to carry them all?” _

_ Kitty nods, “We’ve each got two hands!” She says confidently.”) _

They need to figure out where to sit. Some place that’s quiet would be ideal. There’s plenty of grassy area around. Jane picks a direction, and they walk through the park to find something.

Cathy picks a place that's kind of secluded. Under a tree with plenty of shade and far enough from the playground that they won’t be disturbed by any kids. It’s an absolutely beautiful day out. The sun shines brightly above the three as they settle under the tree with pleasant conversation.

Catalina really started to think that she could get through the day without any issues.

She should have known better.

“Cattie!”

Immediately Jane and Cathy look very confused as she tenses.

“ _ Oh for fuck’s sake. _ ” She growls.

“What? Who is that?”

Catalina doesn’t even have time to answer. The boys sit across from her, joining their group without permission.

“Hey Cattie.” One of them says.

“That’s not my name. Go away.”

“Who’s this?” He gestures to the other queens, who she has no intention of introducing to him.

She continues to glare at the two boys. Cathy and Jane watch the exchange with interest, curious about the two unwelcome guests. Sensing she won’t answer the question, he leans closer to her and repeats himself, his friend smirking at her from next to him.

“My family. Now leave.”

“Ah, the people who adopted you and Kitten. Speaking of, where is she? We have some catching up to do. But I doubt she’d like you talking to us.”

“She'd be pissed you even came near me, yes. All the more reason to leave.”

She can feel the confusion from her family by her side. Kitty and her don’t talk about their time away from the queens a lot. They have every reason to believe they didn’t meet anyone at all. And they sure as hell don’t know that they had any issues.

And to hear about Kitty getting pissed, well, that’s different.

The boys eye her for a bit, and the other one speaks up.

“Hey, where’s your necklace? Finally sell it?”

Catalina rolls her eyes, “You know, I don’t wear it in public anymore. Especially since some people have no sense of boundaries. Got it fixed, by the way.” 

Cathy and Jane share a glance at the mention of the jewelry. Of course they all have something like that, so they know exactly what they’re asking about.

They open their mouth to retort, but don’t get to. Because Kitty shows up suddenly, and the ice cream that she was carrying is now smashed onto their heads. Looking behind Kitty she sees the two remaining queens are running after her. Clearly Kitty booked it to come to Catalina’s aid when she saw who was there.

The boys stand abruptly, “Hey! What the f-“ 

They both take a step back when they see who did it. Kitty steps forward without a thought, placing herself in front of Catalina, who is also standing now.

“What did I say? I said I’d hurt you if you fucked with her again, right?”

“We didn’t do anything! We were just talking!”

There’s a quiet  _ “Woah.” _ from beside them. It’s a good thing they aren’t sitting close to any people.

“What’s this about?” Anne asks, out of breath. She is ignored.

“Lina?” Kitty calls for confirmation. Although she still doesn’t take her glare off of the two people in front of her.

Catalina looks around at the other queens. They’re absolutely astounded, similar to how Catalina felt the first time she saw this side of Kitty. She doesn’t want the others to see Kitty act like this. It’s unnecessary. On top of that, Catalina is the one being protected, which is a very big role reversal that no one saw coming. 

“It’s fine, Kitty. Just leave it.”

_ “Lina.” _

Her angry warning tone has now been directed at Catalina. She finds she does  _ not _ like being on the receiving end. Clearly Kitty isn’t going to let this be.

“It’s-“

“The  _ truth _ , Lina.” 

Her demands are met, because Catalina doesn’t know what else to do.

“They wouldn’t leave. I told them to go and they wouldn’t.” She says honestly.

Their audience seems even more shocked when she complies. Kitty steps forward with murderous intent, and Catalina grabs her wrist.

“Kit, please don’t.”

The ice cream on the two teens heads is melting down their faces. They look afraid for their lives currently. The queens are tense, watching the situation with a mix of fascination and dread.

Kitty stills, relaxing her posture. “Go.”

They do. They practically run out of the park.

After a promise that they’d explain one day when they’re not meant to be having a good time, Catalina and Kitty get up to go buy Jane and Kitty more ice cream. As they leave they catch the beginning of their speculations about who the boys are. As well as the shock at Kitty being that protective.

_ “What the hell?” _

_ “What was that? Who were they?” _

_ “I don’t know! They just came up and started talking to Catalina. They also did mention Kitty being angry that they came near her though.” _

_ “Okay, but Kitty though-“ _

They walk in silence as the voices of the queens fade away. Kitty is walking fairly quickly, and Catalina is struggling to keep up. She doesn’t dare break the silence though, if she does it might start something unpleasant.

It’s not until they’re on their way back, ice cream in hand, that one of them speaks.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

Catalina cocks her head to the side, wondering. 

“Do you?”

“You’re upset I yelled at them.”

She contemplates this. Truthfully, she is quite upset that Kitty would do that. But just as truthfully, the shock when they got ice cream smashed on their head was hilarious.

“Maybe.”

Kitty eats some of her ice cream, hesitating on her next words.

“I’m not sorry.”

“I know you’re not. You don’t need to defend me like that though.”

The girl’s face contorts into frustration, “You would do the same for me!”

Catalina sighs, coming to a stop. It would be better to look at each other to have this conversation. She doesn't want it to become an argument. The last thing she wants is Kitty mad at her. Just one taste of that made up her mind. Kitty is not to be messed with. On top of that, she prefers being friends with the girl. She’s become a pleasant constant in Catalina’s life. 

“Of course I would. But you shouldn’t go fighting people for  _ me. _ I don’t need that. You don’t need to do that.”

_ “Why?” _

She sounds offended at the mere suggestion, as if Catalina had said something that went against her personal beliefs.

“I’m not worth that kind of effort, Kit!” She says it before she can stop herself. It’s out now, though. No going back.

“And besides, I can defend myself perfectly fine.”

She doesn’t expect the hug she gets in response, which is the reason she’s going to use when she explains how she dropped the ice creams. They’ll have to go back for more. That’s fine, they were melting anyway.

Catalina hesitantly hugs back after her initial shock, “Kit?”

The arms around her squeeze tighter.

“You are worth all of my effort and more. You hear me?”

There’s a lump in her throat that is restricting her response, so she just nods and hopes Kitty doesn’t require any more.

After they pull away, they attempt to clean the ice cream off the ground and throw the remains in a nearby trash can. Kitty throws the one she was holding away too, since it was basically liquid by then. Then the two go to the ice cream shop one more time and are greeted with confused stares from the staff.

( _ “Hey, kid! You’ve been in here three times now, haven’t you?” _

_ “Yup.” _

No further explanation is given. _ ) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes. The much requested Kitty being protective in front of the queens. I listen to you guys.
> 
> :)


	12. Chapter 12

_ The aftermath of two members of the household being taken is, to say the least, detrimental. The guilt that sets in for each of the remaining four is overwhelming. They’re not sure why exactly they feel guilt, it’s not exactly like it’s their fault, but still they feel it to their cores. _

_ Anna hasn’t spoken a word since they left. She barely spoke before anyway, only ever having something to say to Kitty. But Kitty isn’t here. Jane’s trying her best to keep everyone sane. If anything, she can keep a level head and try to figure out solutions. Cathy’s been doing nothing but looking into child care laws in this century. Anne, once she’s sorted out her tears, is helping her. _

_ “If we adopt them-“ _

_ “Would we even be allowed-“ _

_ “It’s worth a try-“ _

_ None of them are sure why this has affected them so deeply. Anna is understandable, Kitty was her friend. Even Cathy’s despair kind of makes sense. Things are awkward at best between her and her now younger than her godmother, but they do have a familial bond. Even Jane and Anne being attached to Kitty can be explained away due to their ties as cousins. But even then, they’d all let each other go in ther past lives.  _

_ Anna didn’t do anything and everything to save Kitty. Jane wasn’t distraught at losing Anne, likely wouldn’t have been distraught at losing Kitty either. Cathy watched the execution and then married the man responsible. She thought of Catherine of Aragon and Katherine Howard as a warning, something not to think of fondly. Anne hated Catalina, and had no connection with Kitty then. There’s no reason for her to be this attached. _

_ And yet here they are, trying to get them back. The word family comes to mind. They’re slightly reluctant to say it, they have been since they came back. Being reincarnated is scary. This new world is abrupt and vastly different to the one they knew. It’d be odd if they came out of it with no bonds, considering the stress they’re all under. They’ve learned to rely on one another. And now two members of their makeshift family are gone.  _

_ As time mends all wounds, Anne can’t bring herself to hate Catalina anymore. She can’t hate a teenager for centuries old baggage. They’ve slightly put it past them, though they’re still in rocky territory. They still argue, but Anne finds herself being less and less inclined to win. Does it matter who wins if they all need to take care of each other anyway? This is even ground, and they’re all afraid. While Catalina’s soul is very old, she is now a teenager. Anne Boleyn is a fully grown adult. A fully grown adult who needs to make sure they all survive. _

_ It’s in that moment of revelation that Anne ‘takes charge’, or so to speak. She sees the way that Jane is struggling to keep everyone okay, and decides to give the woman a break. She’s still quite young, being in her early twenties. Still uncertain. She never got the chance to grow at all before. The poor thing has no idea how to deal with loss. _

_ “Jane, it’ll be okay.” _

_ “We’ll get them back, right?” _

_ “Yes, love. How about we all sit down and discuss our next move?” _

_ When Anne brings everyone together and keeps them calm, reassuring them all, they gain respect for the woman. This is the defining moment when Anne is officially considered the leader of the group. And, at a loss for what to do next, the others are glad to follow her lead. _

_ This is how she ends up being the one working for custody. She’s the oldest, so child services are more likely to give it to her anyway. She quickly learns that mentioning how ‘back in her day teenagers were considered young adults, and could choose where to live’ is not a good way to get social workers on her side.  _

_ The social worker’s name is Sam. They’re the same person that Anne was screaming at when they came to take the kids. It’s hard to get past the initial hostility, but they try. _

_ “I want you to gain custody, I do. But do you think that’s for the best? I mean, parenting is quite different now.” _

_ It takes everything in her not to scream that she just wants them back where they belong.  _

_ “It can’t be good for them to be alone after waking up in a new and terrifying world. They should be with people who get it. We’re all open to adapting.” _

_ Sam nods, “Can’t argue with that.” _

_ They all have to take parenting classes. Anne has to get her license. They take tests and work with Sam and their court case manager the best they can. Every class that can help them understand the fundamentals of the present, they are all enrolled in. When they’re in the world, they’re determined. When they’re home, they‘re a mess. _

_ It’s quiet. The house is way too quiet. Everyone is going through the motions, counting down the days until they get their missing family members back.  _

_ When the day finally arrives that Anne has officially adopted the girls, it’s such a relief. All that hard work paid off, all of their fighting was worth it. They wait on the porch, too impatient to wait inside. They want to see the girls as soon as they get here. And when the car containing Sam, Kitty, and Catalina pulls up, they all trip over each other to get to them.  _

_ Catalina gets out first, then Kitty. They immediately take each other’s hand, holding themselves close together. They look tired, and a bit thinner. Catalina’s not wearing her necklace. Their bags that they took with them have come back with less stuff than they left with. But that can be addressed later. Right now it’s time for tearful hello’s. _

_ They take turns hugging each of them. But Anne even surprises herself by pulling Catalina into a tearful hug. It’s the first time they’ve hugged, and it’s the first day they’re spending with Anne as their legal guardian. A memorable occasion for both, though they never speak of it again. _

_ (Everyone ignores the social worker until they can’t anymore. They all go inside so that Sam can tell them what comes next.) _


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one,, was very fun to write.

“ _ Anne! _ Please just consider-“

“No. Absolutely not. Since when do I have to be responsible over  _ you _ ? I normally don’t have to worry about you at all!”

The person that Anne is vehemently denying whatever this is about to is Cathy, of all people. See, the dynamic of the household- something that Catalina will begrudgingly admit- puts Anne right at the top. If you want to make a serious or questionable decision, you ask Anne first because of seniority. They all come from a time where you respect your elders, and even though Anne isn’t technically older than Catalina, she’s older than her in this life. Which means Anne is in charge. An absolute shame, really, because Anne is a buzzkill if it isn’t her own stupid idea.

“But it’s not even that bad!”

“If you have to buy it from a questionable person on the street, it’s a bad idea.”

That gets Catalina’s attention. What’s Cathy trying to do that’s so bad Anne said something like that?

“Don’t make me have Jane babysit you. Don’t think I won’t!”

“That’s not fair! I’m an adult!”

Anne laughs, “Barely.”

“Twenty two is an adult!”

“Sure it is, dear.”

Everyone knows twenty two is technically an adult. Everyone also knows that it’s technically a  _ young adult _ , and therefore she should not be trusted.

Cathy looks absolutely indinified, and Catalina contemplates telling her that this is how she feels  _ all the time. _ But she refrains when Cathy starts to argue again and Anne gets her mama bear face on. Best not to get involved when she is looking at someone like that. Last time Anne looked at her like that she took Catalina’s phone and made her go to bed. Not that bad, right? Except it was barely seven.

She doesn’t yell at Catalina, and hasn't since they woke up. This is likely because she doesn’t want to ruin whatever truce they have going on. Really it was just a quiet go away because Catalina was being annoying and she didn’t wanna lose it at her. They don’t fight like they used to. Anne won’t yell at her like she can tell the woman wants to. Catalina hasn’t been able to get her to truly let her have it yet, but she sure has tried.

“Catherine, that’s enough. You’re not trying weed. End of story. If you bring it up again there will be serious issues.”

_ Oooh, she used her full name! _

Cathy rolls her eyes at the use of her full name, but relents to end the conversation. No one wants to face angry mama bear Anne. It’s not worth the trouble.

“Fine.”

They leave it at that, and Anne leaves the room to do whatever it is she was trying to do before Cathy invoked her wrath. Why does Cathy even want to try that? It’s not like any of them have.

“So,” Catalina prompts, “Weed?”

Cathy groans, plopping onto the couch beside her. She sinks in as if she’s stressed. 

“I just wanna see what all the hype is about. It’s not like I was gonna give you or Kit any! No offense.”

Catalina nods, “None taken. Why not just go try it then?”

Cathy glances at the doorway Anne just left out of, as if she would have heard the suggestion. When she sees that they’re still fine, she responds.

“I can’t just try it. Anne said no.”

She raises an eyebrow at Cathy, “Anne’s not the boss of you.”

She’s well aware that this is only going to start trouble. It’s honestly hilarious, she’d enjoyed watching that argument play out. She’s usually the one being told off, it’s nice to see someone else on the other end of it. Imagine the one when Cathy brings it back up!

“She’d kill me regardless though.”

Catalina hums, “Maybe. But she’s  _ not _ . You said it yourself, you’re an adult. Adults make their own decisions, no matter how dumb they may be.”

“You think it’s a dumb decision?”

“Oh, absolutely. But what do I know? I’ve never tried it. Maybe you’ll really like it. Maybe it really is no big deal. I say ask again, test the waters. See if she’d actually kill you for it before really bringing it home.”

Cathy laughs at the suggestion, because of course Catalina would recommend doing the opposite of what Anne just said to do. It’s in her nature. They briefly discuss what they think would happen if she did get caught trying it. Cathy thinks Anne would have her head. (Which is ironic.) Catalina thinks that she’d give Anne an aneurism, considering she usually just listens without a problem.

-

Cathy does bring it up again. But this time at dinner, so Anne can’t kill her without witnesses. It doesn’t go over well.

“Cath, I told you to leave it.”

There’s a hint of warning in her tone, and Cathy falters for only a moment before responding.

“I don’t understand why you’re being so uptight about it!”

Anna tries to diffuse the conversation, “Maybe you should just listen, Cathy. It’s not like she’s gonna agree.”

They all know Anne is more than a little stubborn. Once she’s made up her mind, she can’t be convinced. Cathy opens her mouth to answer, but Anne gets there first.

“I said no for a reason. I’m not kidding here, you are not to bring that into our house. There are children here-no offense-“ Catalina and Kitty nod in acknowledgment, and Anne keeps going.

“And we don’t know what that will do to you! What if you have a bad experience and we need to take you to the hospital? Or what if Sam comes over and sees it? It’s a drug, Catherine. The answer is no. There will be no using drugs in this house.”

Cathy doesn’t quite give up yet, “But it’s not just your house! I’m an adult and I live here too!”

Anne looks contemplative, staring at Cathy for a long moment. She doesn’t look very angry, her face is calm.

Oh no.

“Do you really want to test this?”

It’s a yes or no question. One that has one answer, no matter what. And yet whoever that question is aimed at always gets it wrong out of spite. This question is an out, a way to stop the storm to come. This means Cathy pushed it too far. It also means that if she wants to get her way there’s no backing out now. They all sit there watching in suspense. They’ve never seen this question directed at Cathy. And over something like this? It’s stressful to even look at.

“Yes.” She growls.

Shit.

“Guys?” Kitty attempts to stop what’s about to happen, she’s ignored.

“Catherine, dear, come with me.” Anne stands, leaving no room for arguing.

Cathy doesn’t move.

”Whatever you want to say you can say here.”

Anne raises an eyebrow at her, “Are you  _ sure  _ you want to do this here?”

Here’s the thing, Anne was incredible at arguing in her first life. Catalina’s seen it, she makes her points well, and has no problem continuing when she hits a nerve. If she makes the other person cry, so be it. Catalina was similar, but could never bring herself to be okay with hurting someone she knew personally. It was something she secretly admired about Anne back then, their quick witted fights were entertaining and well worth her mental effort. 

Cathy, on the other hand, is incredibly persuasive. While she didn’t see her goddaughter in action before, there’s enough evidence to suggest she’s always been this way. She has an answer for everything even now, has a reason for anything she wants to do. And she very much hates being told what to do, always has.

They’re both stubborn as hell.

“Of course.”

This time Jane tries to stop it, effectively being equally as ignored. “Okay, please-“ 

“You are not bringing drugs into this house.”

“First of all, there are plenty of drugs in this house. Marijuana has medical uses too, it’s essentially the same as the anxiety medicine that the psychiatrists keep trying to get us all to take.”

“Except that anxiety medication is legal, marijuana is not legal. And you wouldn’t be using it for medical benefit. You’d be using it as a drug.”

“And what if I wanted to see if it works in the medical aspect?”

“I’d recommend seeing a doctor that can prescribe it and help you get a card for it. But again, you’re not doing it that way. You want to buy it off the street and use it as a regular drug.”

It’s a little bit like watching a ping pong match. Each point is met with another. They go back and forth for the entirety of the remainder of dinner, and even afterwards they continue. The others can only sit and watch, afraid to take their eyes off of the argument. It’s only getting more heated.

“It’s like you think you’re my mother! You can’t actually tell me what to do, Anne. I was bringing it up out of respect.”

Anne rolls her eyes, “I know I’m not your mother, Catherine. But tell me, out of respect for what? The fact that I’m in charge. I let a lot go, but this isn’t something I’m letting happen.”

“And who even put you in charge? You’re not in charge of me, you’re in charge of them. Don’t get confused.”

Before Kitty or Catalina can even think about getting involved to defend their own autonomy, Anne responds, voice scathing.

“ _ Exactly! _ I’m in charge of them. Which means I need to protect them! If something you do might affect them, I need to step in. They’re children, Cathy.  _ Children. _ And before anyone can correct me, Catalina is for all intensive purposes my child in this life. It’s weird as hell, yes. But she’s a child. Kitty too. There are so many ways this could go wrong. What if they get a hold of it? What if Sam catches wind of the fact that a person in this house is buying drugs and takes the girls again?”

Everyone freezes when her voice raises. But Anne isn’t done.

“And you know what, screw it, I care about you. You’re my kid too. I want to protect all of you. What if it really is a gateway drug? And then suddenly I’ve lost you? I can’t lose any of you. Not again.”

Everyone stands completely still for a moment, time stops, the shock from Anne’s words is enough to knock the wind out of them. They all knew Anne was distraught when Catalina and Kitty were taken the first time. They didn’t know it made her this protective of all of them.

What she said about Catalina being her child is right, she can’t fight her there even if she really wants to. Neither can the rest of the queens, because Anne really has taken up the mother figure roll in their home. And as mentioned before, Catalina could never bring herself to hurt someone who she knows personally.

“You’re not bringing any drugs into this house. Do not bring it up again.”

Cathy looks shaken at the prospect of someone caring about her that much. She’s also lost the argument. If she fights anymore after that confession she’d be a monster. And she can’t help that her heart swells a bit with the information that someone is genuinely looking out for her.

“Okay.”

They nod at each other in a silent understanding, both starting to clean the table off.

“You can all go now. Cathy and I will take care of cleaning up.”

Cathy agrees, bidding them all a good night.

The house is incredibly silent as they all go to their respective rooms. Kitty and Catalina sit contemplating Anne’s words for a very long time. They had no idea that them leaving affected the household that much. It was clear that Anne was looked up to, but to consider them all family? To consider them all her own children? It’s rather unexpected. 

But, to all of the queens absolute surprise, it is very welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hc that Cathy smokes weed. But obviously in this AU she can’t because there are kids around, so here’s that. But in everything else Cathy definitely writes while high because she comes up with awesome ideas while she’s fried.
> 
> Anyway, leave a comment! I love reading them!


	14. Chapter 14

Sleeping is Catalina’s favorite thing to do in her new life. Jane says it’s a waste of her second chance; Catalina always responds that she’s saving her energy for her next life.

( _ “Smart ass.” _

_ “Oh, so when I call someone a smart ass it’s wrong, but when it’s directed at me it’s okay?” _

_ “News reporters who get our number are an entirely different story, Catalina!” _ )

She enjoys her sleep. Catalina had no time to sleep in her last life. Always busy, always pushing to prove her worth. She doesn’t need to prove her worth anymore, so in this life she can relax. And in this case relax means sleep until one in the afternoon.

She walks into the kitchen, fully zombie like and only half aware, for lunch. Or, really, breakfast for her. She knows the other queens are there waiting for her. Still, she just takes the plate with her lunch from Anna with a grunt of thanks.

“What time did she even go to sleep last night?”

“She was up pretty late. Definitely after I did.”

Kitty’s a snitch. Catalina tells her this, laying her head down on her arms at the table.

“That’s not very nice, kid.”

Catalina just straight up growls, her brain still too fuzzy from sleep to properly argue with Anne on that one.

“Touchy this afternoon, hm?”

“M’ tired.”

“Not sure you sleeping in every day is healthy, hon.”

Sleeping in is perfectly normal for a teenager, actually. This body needs more sleep than her adult one did. She may not mentally be a teen, but her body is and she needs to cater to its needs. There are some really interesting articles she’s read about the topic. But again, she’s way too tired to actually articulate that.

“Sure feels good, though.”

There’s some pleasant conversation among the queens as Catalina slowly wakes up. Her sandwich, which has been sitting in front of her untouched, looks really good once she finally is fully aware. As she takes a bite, Jane directs a statement at her and Kitty.

“We’re going out tonight, will you two be okay by yourselves for a few hours?”

Kitty perks up at the opportunity to be home alone again. They haven’t been left home alone since the Knife Incident™️. 

“How long will you be gone?”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Catalina rolls her eyes, “We’ll be fine, Jane. Where are you going?”

“Out to eat.”

Cathy huffs a small laugh, “We can actually tell them, you know.”

She turns to the girls, “We’re going to a club.”

Catalina laughs at the mental imagery of Jane in a club. She’s uptight as she is, she can’t even say it out loud. On top of that, she doesn’t drink often. She can’t imagine Jane will be comfortable in that scene.

“Right, yes. To a club. I’m the designated driver, so I’ll be sober enough to notice if you two did something when we get home.”

“Hey!” Kitty exclaims, indignant as ever, “We’re perfectly responsible!”

Jane nods, “Of course. I trust you, just promise you’ll be safe?”

They both agree, and they go about the rest of their lunch in peace.

-

“Be careful, call me if you need anything.”

“We will.”

“No knives this time, please.”

“Got it.”

“There are leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry.”

“Okay.”

“You know how to use the microwave, right? Should I-“

“Jane! They’ll be fine! Let’s go.” Anna interrupts Jane’s barrage of last minute assurances.

They’ve been trying to leave for the past ten minutes, but Jane and Anne haven’t even gone near the door.

“We should be back around one. Keep an eye on Kitty, okay?” 

Anne says that every time they leave Catalina alone with her. Of course she’ll keep an eye on Kitty. There’s no need to even ask.

Jane looks back as Anna is trying to wrangle her out to the car.

“Make sure I don’t come home to a disaster.” And with that they’re gone. 

Kitty and Catalina stand in silence for a bit. It’s been a while since they’ve been left at home. Hopefully they can prove they can be left alone for more than thirty minutes tonight. Catalina goes into the kitchen, fully intent on eating ice cream and watching a movie. Kitty goes off to do whatever with her time. Catalina doesn't know, she also doesn’t really care. Kitty is trustworthy, she can manage on her own.

_ Bzzz _

She looks at the table, where her phone sits.

_ Bzzz. Bzzz. _

Her screen is lit up, she’s getting message after message. Likely from Nat, who has decided to befriend her without caring if Catalina even wanted a friend in the first place.

**_Natashoink-_ **

_ Lina! _

_ Lia! _

_ Lina*! _

**_Cat-_ **

_? _

**_Natashoink-_ **

_ Okay, so, _

_ Bradly just told me his mom is out of the house the next two nights _

_ AND i know you and kat dont like parties _

_ But he’s throwing one and Lia doesn’t wanna go _

_ So i need you guys to come with me _

Catalina weighs her options. The other queens hadn’t explicitly said to stay home. Anne said keep an eye on Kitty, which she can still do at a party.

**_Cat-_ **

_ Let me ask Kit. _

**_Natashoink-_ **

_ Yay _

Catalina abandons her quest for ice cream in favor of finding Kitty. It’s not all that hard, because Kitty is just in the living room, Netflix queued up on the TV.

Kitty beats her to it. “Nat asked us to go to a party.”

“Yeah, do you wanna go?”

Kitty thinks about it, then shakes her head. “Not really. You should totally go, though.”

“What?”

“You should go.” She repeats. 

“You clearly want to, or you wouldn’t have come in here to ask me.”

She’s not going without Kitty. There’s no way, she makes that very clear.

“But you  _ should _ ! I can handle myself! It’s just a few hours.”

Catalina glances at the clock.  _ 9:48PM _ . That gives her plenty of time, but…

“Are you sure you don’t mind being here alone?”

“I’ll be fine. Go have fun.”

She waits for Kitty to take it back. And Kitty’s looking at her like she’s expecting Catalina to fight her more on this.

She nods, pulling out her phone. Kitty goes back to her movie.

**_Cat-_ **

_ Kit’s not coming. Come get me. _

**_Natashoink-_ **

_ HELL YEAH HERE WE GO _

And with that, Catalina heads upstairs to get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I have a FANTASTIC idea. It’ll take a few chapters of setup, but oh boy. You guys’ reactions are gonna be great. 
> 
> Anyway, party time!!!!


	15. Chapter 15

_ 10:12PM _

“Right, so what do we do here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, what’s a way to have fun in my limited time here?”

“Oh, get drunk.”

Nat punctuates that sentence by handing Catalina a cup filled to the brim with Bacardi. The house is packed with drunk teenagers. Some dancing, some making out and working their way upstairs or to their cars, some sitting and talking. Every last one of them intoxicated. Catalina downs her drink, then holds her hand out for a new one. She hasn’t been drunk in this life yet. There’s a first time for everything, she supposes. They make their way through the house trying to find the host of the party. They find him playing beer pong in the yard.

“Bradly!”

The boy looks over when his name is called. He misses his shot, but he doesn’t seem to care as he walks (stumbles drunkenly) over to the two of them.

“You’re here! Where’s Kit?”

“She doesn’t like parties. Where’s Jae?”

Jae is Bradly’s brother, who happens to have a crush on Catalina. Now, Catalina would never actually let him court her, he’s a child. That’d be weird. But it’s kinda funny to watch him trail after her like a lost puppy.

Just as they ask, Jae pops up out of nowhere and pulls Catalina into a hug. Then he pulls her away from the group to dance, promising another drink.

-

_ 11:35PM _

“Lina! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Tell them you know the reincarnated queens of England!” 

Nat looks like she’s trying to prove a point. It’s a funny enough statement on it’s own that Catalina starts laughing at the claim, even though it’s kind of true. She doesn’t just know them though. She  _ is _ one of the reincarnated queens of England. 

“See, I knew you were lying.”

“I’m not! Tell them.”

“I do know them! I just wasn't expecting to hear that. That’s so weird to hear.”

It is really weird to hear, is that how everyone else feels when they hear about it? It’s a strange world.

-

_ 12:28AM _

Catalina gets pulled off of the counter where she’d been taking shots by Nat.

“There you are! We have to go.”

She stumbles, “What?”

“I switched to water like, an hour ago. I have to drive you home.”

Oh. Right. Anne said they’d be home at one.

“Yeah, you’re right. Hey, where’s my phone?”

They spend another ten minutes searching for her phone. As it turns out, it was in a vase. Who knows why? But it made Nat and Catalina laugh for a good five minutes.

-

_ 12:50AM _

Catalina is standing on the curb in front of her house. Kitty is in the doorway looking very, very amused. As she attempts to walk up to the door, Kitty has to meet her half way.

“Lina, you’re soaked. What happened?”

She drunkenly looks at Kitty, “There was a pool. Was I just supposed to not get in the pool?”

“Let’s get you changed.”

Kitty helps Catalina, who is starting to sober up a bit, change into her pajamas. And then they head back downstairs to turn off Kitty’s movie.

They smell the smoke before they see it.

“Shit! The cookies!” 

“Cookies?”

Kitty races to the kitchen, Catalina trailing behind her. 

They turn off the oven and pull the now burnt cookies out. Catalina opens the window and back door to air the room out. It’s then that she notices the mess. If she hadn’t sobered up by then, she certainly is now.

There is cookie batter  _ everywhere _ . There’s mixing bowls and ingredients strewn about the room. The sink is filled with dishes.

“What happened here? I thought I could trust you!”

“You can! I just wanted cookies!”

She looks back at the mess, now slightly panicked.

“Jane is going to  _ kill _ me.”

Catalina has made a point in this life not to piss off Jane too much. In the very early stages of coming back from the dead, Anne made that mistake and ended that fight with a few bruises and a bald spot. From that point on it was fairly simple, if you value your life, stay on Jane’s good side. Her temper is volatile.

Kitty nervously pipes up, “Since when are you afraid of Jane?”

Catalina’s head snaps in Kitty’s direction.

“I’m not!”

She bites her lip as she gazes around the room one more time.  _ Jane is gonna be pissed, though.  _

And Anne. Anne will also be pissed. Catalina promised to watch over Kitty. And by extension it’s her responsibility to make sure that the house doesn’t fall apart. Clearly a failed endeavor.

She glances at the clock.  _ 1:03AM _

“We should clean this up.” Kitty suggests.

“Yes. Cleaning. Good idea.”

They both get to work.

-

_ 1:19AM  _

“This is useless. They’re gonna be here any second, and you smell like alcohol and chlorine. We’re screwed!”

“ _ We? _ There is no we. I blame this entirely on you. You convinced me to go to that stupid party! You made the mess!”

Kitty is about to argue back, but they hear the lock to the door click. In a panic, Kitty grabs Catalina and runs for the stairs. They make it to their room without being spotted somehow, then listen in on the conversation downstairs.

_ “They left the light on down here.” _

_ “Yeah, but at least- Oh, nevermind.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “They made cookies.” _

_ “What’s wrong with that?” _

There’s some walking around, then,

_ “Oh my god.” _

To be fair, the kitchen looks substantially better than when they started to clean it. They got most of the batter off the counter, and the dishes were now at least half washed and none were sitting around the room. It’s truly the work of panic induced cleaning.

_ “We’ll have them clean these dishes and the oven in the morning. They’re probably asleep.” _

They hear the women make their way up the stairs, and the two queens scramble to their beds frantically. When their door opens as one of the queens check on them, they pretend to be fast asleep, hearts beating out of their chests.

The door closes and they turn over in bed to look at each other.

“What are we gonna say?” Catalina whispers.

“Nothing.”

Catalina looks at Kitty through the dark, clearly not getting it.

“We say nothing about what happened. We wash the dishes and apologize for the mess, then we never talk about tonight again.”

She has to admit, that’s a good plan. So she agrees wholeheartedly and bids Kitty goodnight. Then she sets an alarm on her phone so she can wake up early and shower before anyone has the chance to smell her.

The last thing she thinks of before she sleeps is what would happen if they found out. She doesn't know, but surely it’s nothing good.

-

“So,” Cathy says as Kitty settles on the couch beside her, “How was your night last night? Other than the baking disaster, I mean.”

Kitty contemplates her words before answering. She needs to be vague enough that Catalina can answer the same question without saying something different. It’d be easier to come up with a lie if Catalina was with her, so she could go off of it and add from there. But she’s currently pretending not to be hung over as she helps Anna, who is also pretending not to be hung over, clean the rest of the mess in the kitchen.

Kitty could be helping her right now. Actually, she should be. It’s her mess anyway, and Jane said she wasn’t making breakfast until the kitchen is clean. But Jane directed the heat towards Catalina, who decided to just completely take the blame and, for extra effect, argue with her a bit. The result was Anna laughing at a comeback Catalina came up with, and them both being sentenced to cleaning the kitchen alone.

“It was fine. We just watched movies.”

“What’d you watch?”

“A whole Adam Sandler marathon. Lia’s been bugging us to watch his movies forever.”

She should change the topic. Catalina didn’t watch any of the movies with her. If she were to be questioned she’d have no idea what to say. So she then marvels out loud at how difficult baking actually is. The conversation from that point on is about the art of baking. This brings up the topic of The Great British Bake Off, and then suddenly they’ve made an agreement to watch it together.

Catalina pops her head into the room, asking Kitty to come help her with something.

“It’s not the cleaning!” She says as a disclaimer, just so that the adults don’t think she’s getting Kitty to help with her punishment.

Kitty makes her way into the kitchen, and sees that Anna has vacated the room.

“Anna’s in the bathroom.” Catalina supplies. “I need you to reach the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.”

Ah, okay. That’s where the painkillers are. Given she’s asking for medicine, her hangover likely hasn’t gone away completely.

“But-“

“Jane’s not even here, Kit. She’s at the store. She won't notice a few painkillers missing.”

Jane has a mental stock of all the medicine in that cabinet. Her reasoning is to be absolutely sure that they are fully stocked with anything they might need. She’s deathly afraid of being ill after the way she died in her first life. Kitty is hesitant to take anything from that cabinet without permission.

“Why can’t you just ask Anna to get you some? Say you have a headache?”

“I don’t need anyone being suspicious, I already said I feel great today.”

Kitty hesitates, looking at the cabinet. Then she opens it and grabs the bottle from the top shelf. She hands it to a very grateful looking Catalina, who downs two pils and shoves two more into her pocket for if she still needs them later.

“If she notices, you used a chair to reach it.”

Anna comes back and Kitty goes up to her room. She’s still filled with anxiety that they’ll get caught. Last night they both had fun; Catalina at a party and Kitty with her attempt at baking and her Adam Sandler movies. They were nearly caught- it was quite close. She can’t help the feeling that with every hour the others spend unaware they’re digging an even bigger hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s play a game where Catalina makes a bad decision in every chapter. Let’s see how chaotic she can truly get. Let’s see how long she can keep the chaos streak going until the queens catch wind of what she’s been doing. I want to see how big of a grave she can dig for herself before I even think about writing a resolution to the many problems she’s creating.
> 
> We still haven’t even gotten to my idea yet. But we’re getting there.


	16. Chapter 16

Catalina’s watching paint dry. No, seriously, she’s watching paint dry.

Today is Wednesday, which means her and Kitty go to their youth group. Since fully becoming friends with Nat and Lia, it’s actually pretty bearable. There’s even a few other people that they like. Catalina unofficially adopted three younger kids, their names being Loren, Ben, and Justine. 

But back to her watching paint dry.

They’re doing an art installation at the rec center they’re having these meetings in, and Catalina is keeping an eye on the wall they’ve painted on while Nat and Kitty go talk to the head of the center. She’s got two of the kids she looks out for with her, Justine and Ben. 

They’re also waiting for Justine and Bens ride, which should be here any minute. But Catalina’s main job is to make sure no one messes with the wall until they get the owner of the building to come see it.

“So, I saw the pictures of you at Bradly’s party the other night. How was that?”

She glances at Justine, flashing her a smile. 

“Actually really fun. You should come next time. His parties aren’t bad.”

Ben laughs at the suggestion as if it were a joke. “We weren’t invited.”

Catalina fully takes her eyes off the wall, “What?”

“We weren’t invited? Bradly isn’t exactly our friend.”

“But everyone was invited?” 

“Yes, everyone except us.”

Well, Catalina now has a one person hit list.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure his brother, like, hates me or something.”

Actually, a two person hit list.

“I’ll take care of it.”

They both scramble to reassure her that it’s actually fine, that they didn’t even want to go to the stupid party anyway. They had much more fun getting tipsy at Ben’s house watching movies.

She’s just about to lament not going to watch movies with them instead, because truthfully shots in a bed sounds much more comfortable than shots on a counter, when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around to see Jane.

Jane, the only other person in their home who has her license. Catalina assumes she will be taking them home. She greets the three of them pleasantly, introducing herself to Catalina’s friends. Then she comments on the wall that Catalina is currently guarding, saying that it’s very nice, she’s happy to see such creativity from young minds, and other old people commentary. (Nevermind the fact that Jane isn’t even that old. She acts like an old woman enough that even Catalina can’t figure out where it’s coming from.)

By the time she asks where Kitty is, the girl appears.

“Janey! Look at what we made!”

Jane’s met Nat before briefly, so no need for introductions there. They get into a detailed discussion of what they’ve painted. Kitty takes time out of her speech about how important it is to the community, clearly putting on a show for the owner of the building standing right beside her, to point out the poorly detailed cat Catalina put on the corner of it with “Kitty” and a smiley face written above it.

(“That’s so cute!” 

“Nothing I do is  _ cute _ , Jane.”

“Adorable.”)

Nat explains the significance of giving troubled teens a creative outlet, and Catalina has to physically keep herself from laughing. Because this is the girl who drunkenly explained the plot of ‘Go Fish” to her before remembering that it’s actually Finding Nemo three days ago. 

When they get in the car to leave Jane can’t stop talking about how “responsible that girl Nat is, she’s such a good influence”. She’s honestly glad Jane likes Nat though, because she kind of wants Nat around more often.

“And what is it you were talking about with the other two? Something about a party?”

Kitty sends her a panicked glance. Catalina's heart stops for a second, but she smiles and responds.

“We were talking about a birthday party for one of the other people in the group.”

Jane continues to smile as she talks about how lovely it is that they get along with the others, and that she’s happy they’re enjoying the experience. Which they are, so that gives them plenty of leeway to change the course of the conversation. When they get home Kitty pulls her into their bedroom and says what she’s clearly been thinking since the morning after the party.

“This was a terrible idea.”

“This was  _ your _ idea.”

“We’re going to get caught!”

Catalina grabs Kitty’s shoulders and looks at her in the eyes.

“Listen to me. Fully listen to what I’m saying. We won’t get caught if you calm down. And even if we do, so what?”

“ _ So what?” _ She repeats incredulously. She’s looking at Catalina like she’s speaking Russian.

“Yes, Kit. So what? What are they going to do? Nothing. They’ll be upset for a bit and they’ll get over it. It wouldn’t be the end of the world as we know it. You won’t die for a second time. They’re not gonna disown you for staying home and baking, if anything they’d be mad at me. And, I remind you, this was your idea. You wouldn’t have thought of it if you didn’t think it’d work out. We’ll be okay.”

Truthfully, she has no idea what will happen if they find out. But she knows damn well that she’s not going to let Kitty go down for it if they do get caught lying. She’ll take the heat, no problem.

(Except a little bit of a problem, because she’s not sure what she’ll do if a second family gives up on her.)

“Girls! Come eat!”

With one last meaningful reassuring look towards Kitty, Catalina leads the way downstairs to eat.

-

The guilt might be eating Catalina up a little. Not because of Kitty’s constant worrying weighing her down, which she thought it would be if this were to happen. No, instead she feels guilty whenever they leave the two home alone. Knowing the night they ‘proved themselves’ is actually the night Catalina broke every promise she made to the others weighs on her conscience. 

_ Be safe. _

Safe, like she was when Nat drove her home tipsy.

_ Take care of Kitty. _

She left her alone, if the house had caught on fire she wouldn’t have been there.

_ Are you guys going to be okay? _

The tension has driven a noticeable rift into Catalina and Kitty’s relationship. Catalina feels awful, if she hadn’t have left in the first place they wouldn’t be keeping this secret. Actually, multiple secrets.

The biggest issue is that they keep talking about how good Nat has been for their adjustment. And, yes, they’re right. She’s been good for their adjustment. But she’s also a teenager. Truly, they underestimate what kids are capable of while still being a ‘good kid’. Nat was the one who invited her, Nat is also the one who keeps bringing her to other locations when she says she’s at Nat’s house.

“Lina! This burger is incredible. Isn’t it incredible, Dashun?”

She’s currently sharing a burger with a guy they only just met a half hour ago in a park. He took them to this little Burger joint where Catalina refused to order anything out of spite that her friend is practically ignoring her for this random dude.

It’s not even like she’d get in trouble for being here, it’s just that she’d said she was at Nat’s and now she’s about an hour away from the place she said she was going to be. And she fully recognizes that this is a bad thing, but that doesn’t mean she’s going out of her way to correct it. They like Nat, how much would they like her if they knew she brought Catalina to some dingy two star burger place with some guy? She guesses not very much. It would damage their opinion of Catalina’s only friend, and she’s not sure it's worth the fuss.

Nat has some poor decision making skills. That coupled with the fact that she has an angel face, makes her kind of unpredictable. She’d never guess the seemingly responsible sweetheart group leader she met was such a troublemaker. 

Don’t get her wrong, Nat is fairly responsible too. She’s got a 3.8 GPA, which she’s been told is a great thing. And she has her license, and a job, and she leads a youth group. She’s got a lot going on, so it’s great that she can let herself relax every once in a while.

“Here babe, try the fries.” Dashun offers Nat the basket of fries he ordered, and Catalina just sits there, waiting for them to be  _ done so she can leave, God! _

Kitty isn’t here because she’s with Anna. But even if she wasn’t with Anna she wouldn’t have come along anyway. The girl has been avoiding Catalina, which hurts, she won’t lie. But they’re working through some stuff, it’ll all work out.

(‘Working through some stuff’ means dealing with the fact that they are liars and feel even worse about it when they’re with each other.)

“Can we go? I have to be home in a half hour.”

Nat looks up from her fries, and Dashun loosens his arm around her. 

“I mean, I guess we could.” She starts getting up, but Dashun stops her. 

“I could get my buddy over here for you if you wanna stay.”

Catalina doesn’t want to do that. The last thing she wants is to meet this guy's friend. But Nat looks so damn  _ hopeful. _

Shit.

“How old is your friend?”

Better to know what level of uncomfortable she’s about to face.

The boy smiles an easy smile at her, “He’s twenty four. Older, but you seem mature enough.”

Catalina blinks. That is not what she expected. Nat looks pretty hesitant now, but Catalina’s interest has been piqued. She won’t let any of the teenage boys court her, they’re too young for her. Even with this body it would be weird. But an adult? That might get her somewhere. She hadn’t even thought of that.

“He lives just around the corner, could be here in a minute.”

Nat seems like she’s about to interject. Probably something about Catalina being sixteen. So she speaks up before Nat can, and surprises her.

“Alright. Call him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all remember when I said I had an idea. I won’t lie and say I didn’t evil laugh after I wrote this.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I’m away with some friends for the week and I’m not going to be writing much. We’ll get back to regular updates soon I promise.

Dashun’s friend, Eric, just so happens to be hilarious. She was a bit hesitant at first, given her physical age versus his, and her mental age versus his. But he’s very easy to get along with. By the time they all decide to stop loitering at the burger place and go home, Catalina’s exchanged numbers with him. 

“And will I see you again, sweetheart?”

She’s not sure why she likes that name coming from him. If anyone else were to call her that they’d lose their tongue. But Eric is very attractive, and nice to her, and she feels differently about him. Is this- what did they call it, oh- a crush, is this what a crush feels like? Apparently tall, dark and muscle-y is her type, go figure.

Feeling bold, she answers. “I’d hope so.”

They bid each other goodbye, and he gives her a quick peck on the check before she goes. Which,  _ god _ , made her heart do a flip. 

She gets into Nat’s car so the girl can drive her home, and is met with the most incredulous look from her friend.

“What?”

“ _ What? _ Really? I never would have guessed you were into older guys!”

Neither would anyone else, truly. Henry was younger than her. And as mentioned before, Catalina had never given this prospect any thought.

“I don’t know. He was really funny. And you wanted to stay.”

“All you had to say was you’re uncomfortable. We would have left.”

“I wasn’t uncomfortable. I liked him, he was nice.”

Catalina hesitates, then she mumbles something else Nat can’t quite hear.

“What was that?”

She rolls her eyes, “He’s also very hot.” 

Those words are met with laughter.

“What? I am not immune to attractive men. It’s a weakness.” 

Catalina can’t help but laugh along as she playfully defends herself. Nat calms first, asking how Catalina felt about Dashun.

“Seems okay. What did you think of Eric?”

Nat stops at a red light, and glances at her friend.

“He’s a little old for you.”

_ I’m a little old for him. _

“Maybe. But I wanna see him again.”

The car starts moving again, they’re getting closer to Catalina’s. She needs to convince Nat to be cool with it now. It might be a little harder if she has any more time to think about it.

“I’ll hang out with you and Dashun if Eric is there.”

Nat sits in silence. Clearly she’s thinking this over. 

Dressed up, Catalina looks older than she is. Without any makeup and in her house, she’s got a baby face and is short enough she looks like a kid. But with makeup? And more mature clothing? She looks about nineteen, maybe twenty. Surely the two of them wouldn’t look too strange together.

“Fine. How about on Monday? He asked us to hang out on Monday while you were in the restroom.”

“And when were you planning on telling me?”

“I didn’t know you liked him that much!”

“What part of  _ hot  _ did you not understand?”

They dissolve into laughter again, and turn onto Catalina’s street. She sees that her bedroom window is open, which means Kitty is home. Catalina makes up her mind then and there that she’s not telling Kitty about Eric. It’s bad enough she has general anxiety around men, but to see Catalina with an older man might break her mind a little. And that’s fine. Just one more secret. It’s not as if she doesn’t already have plenty.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how when I said let’s have Catalina fuck everything up you all were so excited. Then when she actually makes bad decisions everyone was so UPSET.
> 
> Warning for underage relationships! It doesn’t get into anything, but it’s still there, so.

“Whoa. Dressed up much?”

Catalina stops on her way to the front door, turning to face the person making the comment. Anna stands there, smiling as though she’s said something hilarious.

_ Not now, please. _

“Just felt like looking nice today.” She replies.

Every conversation she’s had today has been frustrating. Earlier she’d fought with Cathy over her using all the hot water. Then she got into a small disagreement with Jane over the day Catalina is supposed to do her laundry; which is supposed to be on Tuesday, not Thursday,  _ Jane. _

Kitty is on the couch watching the interaction. The girl is lying inthe recliner with a book in her lap, seeming fairly content with her lazy day in. 

“Where’re you going?”

That’s a valid question, considering her outfit and makeup. But it’s also a question she doesn’t feel comfortable answering truthfully.

“Nat’s house. We might go out too.”

“Why’s Kit not coming then?”

_ What’s with the game of twenty questions? _ She looks over at Kitty, who hasn’t said anything to her all day. There doesn’t see to be a reason other than not having anything to say though, so they should be fine. Kitty was not invited, mostly because she’s not actually going to Nat’s house. 

“I’m good. I wanna stay home today.”  _ Thank God. _

Catalina looks back at Anna, silently hoping that was enough to satisfy her curiousness. Hopefully she can get out the door before-

_ “Woah, are you wearing makeup? And- Oh, is that even a shirt? It’s so short!” _

Oh boy. Just what she wanted to deal with. 

“Anne, it’s fashion.”

“Your makeup looks nice, but you’ll get sick. Go put on an actual shirt.”

“Thanks, but I really like my outfit so-“

“I’m sure we didn’t buy that for you when we went to the mall, when did you get that?”

“Jane definitely bought this for me, so it’s  _ fine. _ Plus, I can dress how I want in this century.”

“No doubt you can dress that way if you feel comfortable, but it’s chilly out. You need something warmer.”

_ “Anne.” _

_ “Catalina.” _

“I don’t want to.”

“You are not leaving this house until you are protected from the cold. That goes for everyone, not just you.” 

Catalina rolls her eyes. This is why she was trying to leave! It’s not even that cold out. It’s actually relatively warm for Fall weather. Glancing to the other two people in the room, she sees how immensely they are enjoying this.  _ Anna probably held her up on purpose. _

Why does everyone have to get involved in what she’s doing? It’s not like she goes around fighting them on every decision they make!

She grabs a hoodie from the coat rack next to the door, making a show of putting it on. 

“There. Better?”

“Yes. Where are you going all dressed up like that anyway?”

It takes everything in her not to groan, “Nat’s. Can I go now? Please?”

Anne observes her for a moment. Catalina isn’t sure what she’s looking for, but eventually she gives a firm nod and lets her leave.

“Be safe.”

“Will do!” 

And then she’s gone. Only slightly more irritated than she was, she makes her way down the street, Then she turns the corner, eyes lighting up when she sees what she’s searching for.

A small black car, slightly beat up; a hand-me-down from his parents. Standing just outside the car on the pavement is her now boyfriend, Eric. Catalina walks over beaming, letting him pull her into a hug.

“Hey there,” he greets with a smirk. Her response is to just snuggle into him some more.

The thing about Eric, if there is a  _ thing _ to be described, is that he treats her well. He’s patient with her. He holds her constantly because he understands her need for physical contact in a way nobody else ever has. But most of all, he doesn’t treat her like a child.

Now, in this life she is a child, kind of. But in her last life people were just as condescending.  _ Especially _ the men. Especially Henry. So to be free from judgment and condescension from a man who seems to genuinely care about her is just so freeing. Too freeing to pass up.

In the car her hand is locked with his as he talks a mile a minute about this new game update that’s coming out. She nods along, not quite getting it. (Catalina is admittedly not very tech savvy, but she’s able to keep up well enough.) But it’s important to him so she’ll listen to every word. Besides, after this she’ll get to talk about what she’s been doing. And then he’ll sit through her rant about how insulted she is that she got a B in her government class in her online courses. (For Christ’s sake, she used to  _ be _ the government!)

His apartment is pretty small. Nothing she’s ever been used to. Even her shared bedroom with Kitty is bigger than his living room. The couch is less of a couch and more of a beat up loveseat that was chosen because of the size of the room and not because of stylistic choices. But the smaller the better for this, because they’re planning on watching a movie.

Another thing about Eric is that he never makes Catalina do anything. From eating at a place she doesn’t trust, to more compromising things, he is very respectful of her boundaries. This is extremely appreciated. Especially after a lifetime of other people (Mostly men.) making choices for her. She never wants to let anyone hold power over her again. She never wants to be forced into anything again. And he’s promised he never will force her to do anything she doesn’t want to, so she feels safe with him.

They sit entangled together as they try to find a movie to watch. Every time one makes a decision, the other disagrees.

“We should really plan this better.” She observes, reaching into the popcorn bowl.

He laughs, “Yeah. We should probably pick the movie ahead of time at least. At this rate you’re gonna finish the popcorn before we actually put on a movie.”

She tosses a piece at him and he catches it in his mouth, promoting her to abruptly sit up. 

“That was cool!”

“What? Catching it?”

“Can you do that from a distance?”

He looks at the popcorn bowl, then slowly turns his head to face her. 

“There’s only one way to find out.”

-

She fell asleep. And now they’re speeding down the street as she laments not charging her phone earlier. Her phone is dead and there’s no doubt that she’s getting a ton of phone calls right now, seeing as Catalina was supposed to be home  _ two hours ago _ .

“You missed the turn!”

“I’ll just turn up here then.”

“You  _ can’t _ turn there. It’s one way.”

He rolls his eyes and abruptly makes a U-turn, causing Catalina to hit her head on the window next to her.

“What the hell?”

“You said-!”

“I said you couldn’t turn there! I didn’t say do something dangerous!”

“I have it handled!”

Another thing about Eric, is when he’s in a bad mood he is absolutely insufferable. All of his reactions are dramatic and he’s way more reckless. He certainly did not like being woken up so abruptly because Catalina needed to leave.

She opens her mouth to argue back, because that was undoubtedly a stupid decision and he should know. But he cuts her off.

“Maybe if you weren’t so childish and you didn’t panic over being a little late, this wouldn’t be happening! But I should know better than to expect anything more mature from you.”

Hold up, freeze frame, stop,  _ what? _

Catalina shuts her mouth immediately, caught off guard by the remark. She doesn’t even get the chance to find words to respond, because they pull up on the corner of her house.

Catalina doesn't move for a moment. How dare he say that to her? After how he would sit with her for hours at a time talking about how mature for her age she is? After weeks of being okay with her curfew? Then she abruptly opens the door and quickly exits the car, forgoing any goodbyes. 

Only vaguely aware of him saying her name behind her, she starts walking toward her house. Then she feels a hand on her wrist, which snaps her back into reality very quickly. She turns around so quickly that he barely had time to let go before she snatches her hand away.

“What?”

“Walking away won’t fix this. I’m admitting that U-turn was uncalled for. Is your head okay?”

“My head is the least of my worries right now.” She growls.

“Come on, sweetheart. Be reasonable. You might be hurt.”

“I am being reasonable! You don’t get to talk to me like that!”

“Calm down. I can’t talk to you if you’re yelling. This is what I was talking about.”

That gets her to take a deep breath at least. Admittedly she could be a little more calm and talk this out, and her yelling isn’t exactly proving her being mature. She feels a bit like she’s overreacting as she sees him standing there calmly.

He takes a step forward when she stays silent.

“Is your head okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s fine.” She says, quietly. She has a bad feeling about this. This feels very wrong.

“We were having such a good day. Let's stop fighting, please?”

Well, now it’s up to her. And she really doesn’t want to fight anymore. She didn’t even want to fight to begin with.

“Yeah,” She swallows the lump in her throat. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

They bid a very sweet goodbye, leaving Catalina feeling wrong-footed and reeling. Numbly, she walks to her door. When she opens it she is met with pure chaos.

Cathy is sitting by Kitty, who is damn near crying as she swears she doesn’t know the answer to whatever is being asked. Jane looks pissed, and is pacing back and forth in the living room. Anne and Anna just look increasingly worried. Then, Catalina steps in, closing the door behind her, and everyone freezes. 

It’s only a moment of silence, but their gazes dont leave her and it makes it feel like a long time. As if time has stopped completely besides their anxious thoughts and Catalina’s nervous energy.

“Hi?”

Jane is the first to start up again. “ _ Where the hell have you been?” _

Then Kitty, eyes wide, “Jane! Don’t!”

“Janey, calm down.” Cathy says diplomatically, though there is an edge to it. As if she’s forcing herself to be calm

She does not stop.

“Well? Where? Where were you that you couldn’t get back at a reasonable hour? That you couldn’t answer your damn phone?”

“I…” Catalina isn’t sure how to respond to Jane’s fury. Especially not with all of the others staring at her, waiting for an answer. She steps back, pressing herself into the door. Everything in her is telling her to run.

Jane is about to start again, when Anna steps in front of her, “O-kay! How about we give her a second to explain! I’m sure she has a reasonable explanation.”

“What’s the point of her having a phone if she doesn’t answer? We called her-!” 

“I know. I know we did. Just let her speak, okay?”

Jane reluctantly agrees, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. Anna then turns to her, eyes expectant.

All that’s happened today is people fighting with her and she’s genuinely tired of it. Looking around at the faces of her family all she feels is sick. Are they going to yell at her all night? Because if so, she might just have to leave again.

“My phone died!” She rushes out in a bout of short circuiting energy. “And I fell asleep! I came home as soon as I woke up!”

Anne then steps in, “See? Honest mistake. Now relax, Jane.”

Jane does seem slightly placated at the reassurance that Catalina only stayed out this late on accident, but she still keeps going.

“Why didn’t you charge your phone earlier? You know better than that!”

This feels incredibly patronizing, honestly. She  _ does _ realize charging her phone would have been smart. However, she  _ didn’t _ . So being upset over it is pointless. Taking a breath, Catalina stays calm. 

“I just forgot to. Sorry for worrying you all.”

Apparently she can sense that Catalina is annoyed, and is not happy about it.

“I’m sorry, is my worry inconvenient to you? Have you even thought about how inconsiderate it is that you’ve only just come home? We would all like to be in bed by now!”

There are two options here. One: Apologize more believably. Then try to get upstairs without a fight. Or two: show Jane what she’s really getting into if she wants a fight.

_ Well, she started this. _

Catalina’s been on the verge of this all day. So first, she starts with a warning. 

“Jane, I don’t want to do this. I’ve had a bad day.”

_ “You’ve _ had a bad day? We’ve been panicking for hours!”

Alright, here we go then.

_ “I. Don’t. Care.”  _ She grinds out. There's enough warning in her tone that most would know to back off. Except Jane is just as easy to anger.

Jane’s about to snarl out another response, now back at full fury, but Catalina beats her to it. 

“I already apologized. So let me get this straight. Just because you can’t get over a few missed phone calls, I should be distraught?” She laughs at the end of her question. “No, I think I’m done being yelled at over a mistake.”

“It’s not about that! It’s about how you can’t even understand how much this affects us! That is so immature of you!”

And, Catalina is getting so tired of people treating her like a child. It’s about damn time they realize who they’re dealing with here, because it is not a kid.

“Why does what I do affect you at all? You’re blowing all of this out of proportion.  _ Talk about immature! _ And don’t say that I don’t understand, because I do. You have some kind of image of me as a kid who needs structure. But I’m not a kid, and you are  _ not _ my mother. As a matter of fact, you’re not even my actual family!”

She doesn’t really mean it, but saying that makes this easier. If they’re gonna be upset with her about stuff like this, then they’re gonna give up a lot sooner than she thought they were. May as well help it along.

_ “I know I’m not your mother.” _ Jane snaps back. It’s harsh, but her voice is shakier than before. It’s clear that it hit a nerve. Good, because Catalina is aiming to win.

But if she’s trying to win, why does she feel so damn guilty?

“I know,” Jane says a bit softer. Maybe she’s trying not to cry. If Jane starts crying Catalina might just run out the door again. “But you are my family. My real family.”

Scrunching her nose a bit, Catalina disagrees. 

“No, I’m not.” 

If anyone cares to look they would see her hands shaking. They would see her making an incredible effort to stay still. The urge to run away is only growing stronger.

Jane repeats her statement a few more times, and Catalina continues to shake her head. The others look more and more concerned as the exchange goes on.

“Just stop. This is getting ridiculous.”

“Lina-“

“No! Why do you keep insisting on this!”

“Because we care about you-!”

If you ever wanted to set Catalina off, that’s the way to do it. To many, that would be a nice thing to hear. But to Catalina it only means pain. It’s the pain of having people want something from her, and then being disappointed when she can’t deliver. It’s the pain of being alone because there is no way anyone could ever just  _ actually _ care about her. So yes, that statement is upsetting.

Catalina rolls her eyes, disbelief crossing every feature. “And how long is  _ that _ going to last?”

Suddenly everything is quiet. A look of shock slides into place on Jane’s face. Actually, on all of the queens faces.

Then, sadly, “Lina,”

“Forget it.” She all but growls back, ready to just push past them all to make it upstairs. Anne catches her on her way through the room.

Anne pulls her back towards the door, grabbing the keys to the car. And Catalina isn’t very sure why she’s letting Anne move her around like this, but she’s curious about what’s coming next.

“Everyone go to bed, we’re taking a ride. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”

Catalina has no idea how Anne does that. The just, taking over. Staying calm and forcing everyone else to calm down and listen. She watches everyone slowly move to do as they were told, and gets handed another sweater.

At the questioning look, Anne gives her a kind smile. “You must have left that hoodie at Nat’s tonight. But you need a sweater, love, it’s cold out.”

Catalina feels numb as she puts the sweater on. She barely registers that it’s Cathy’s favorite. That’s probably because it’s so soft. She wonders idly if Anne gave her Cathy’s sweater on purpose, if it was meant as some sort of comfort.

Anne leads her in the cold to the car, she even opens the door for her. Catalina doesn’t speak at all when Anne eyes her worriedly. The car starts, and they move down the street. 

Catalina still doesn’t speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does everyone feel now?


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is long!!! I worked so hard on it tbh.

Anne is not freaking out. Nope. She is not worried. Well, she is worried, but she can totally handle this. It’s not as if angry Catalina ever fazed her before, and she’s dealt with Jane’s fury first hand. She even had the bright idea to remove Catalina from the situation before it got any worse!

But, Catalina still has not said anything, and that’s… _concerning_ , to say the least.

She was shaking and on the verge of tears the entire argument. All Anne wanted was to end it. She knew that it would only get worse if she didn’t allow them to get to the root of the issue, though, so she let it go on. Perhaps a bit too long, because Anne is pretty sure Jane broke Catalina.

“Do you want some food? Burger King?” No response.

“Did you eat while you were out?” No response.

“Are you okay?” A glare that she’s glad is directed at the window, because it would probably incinerate Anne’s skull upon contact.

Anne sighs, pulling into a gas station parking lot. It’s closed, but the lights above the gas pumps are on, so she won’t have to turn the car light on and waste the battery. For a moment they just sit there, staring ahead of them at the empty building. Anne follows a moth in it’s flight toward the light above the car until she can’t see it anymore.

“I figured you might need some time to cool down and think. Is this okay?”

Catalina continued to silently stare out the front window of the car. The girl is pulled into herself entirely. Usually Anne would chide her about having her sneakers on the seat, but it seems that hugging her legs is giving her some stability, so she lets it go. 

Sensing the need for more silence, Anne nods and goes back to staring at the moths around the car. It’s honestly peaceful. But both of them know they can't go home until they talk about this. 

And Anne can’t stand the building tension in the air, so she tries again to fill the silence.

“I have to go on drives sometimes. Whenever it’s all too much I just hop in the car and go.”

She’s not looking over at Catalina to see if she’s listening. She just keeps going.

“I did it a lot when I first got this car. I’d always need time away. Nowadays I’m usually too busy, I had to limit my time out.”

“Is that why you do all the grocery shopping by yourself?”

Anne jumps in surprise when she actually gets a response to her statements. She hadn’t actually expected that to work.

“Yes. It’s quite peaceful to just leave the chaos for a while. Just to get some time to think.”

Catalina nods, “Makes sense.”

And just like that they slip back into silence. Though it is way more companionable than before, so progress made, then.

The clock on the radio says it’s 12:34AM, but the clock is always about tens minutes off and Anne has no idea how to fix it.. So really it’s 12:44AM. Quite late for a drive of this nature, but still productive. There are a few cars still passing by on this usually busy street. Every once in a while a car will slow down enough to see if the gas station is open, before resuming their normal speed.

This is a sacred thing to Anne. Her drives are normally around an hour long, but it can take longer if she’s feeling particularly overwhelmed. Like Catalina said, she takes on grocery shopping by herself in order to get some alone time. She even goes to the supermarket that’s a bit further away to maximize her time spent in peace. While she’s out she doesn’t have to hold everything together, there’s less pressure.

It’s quiet, peaceful, and worth every calming moment. In the midst of that argument she’d had the thought that Catalina might need to calm down. Then she thought that maybe some time far away from the others might do her some good.

_“I don’t want to do this. I’ve had a bad day.”_

And lord, does Anne get that. After a day of things piling up it can get to be all too much. Sometimes she even explodes at the others if she can’t get away. In a way, Catalina’s reaction was more than justified. Especially if she was already upset. 

The warning Catalina gave before she started it was more than Anne would have done herself. That’s honestly commendable, because it can be hard to restrain yourself if you’re that close to snapping.

Anne never yells at Catalina or Kitty, or even lets them see her a bit freaked, so perhaps it is a bit of a shock to the girl that this is revealed to be a frequent thing Anne does. Maybe that’s why she only responded to that.

Her thoughts are interrupted after a few minutes of contemplative silence when she hears a small sniffle from next to her. She looks over to see the teen trembling, holding her hands over her mouth as if to stifle the sound. It seems natural, as if she does this whenever she cries. That thought is rather alarming, truthfully.

Another thing is that Anne doesn’t know what to do to comfort Catalina. Normally Catalina won’t even let her see the slightest emotion, so it’s hard to find words. And Kitty usually would be doing this, but Anne hadn’t thought to bring Kitty along, so now she’s on her own to deal with it.

She attempts to lay a hand on her arm in a comforting manner, but stops mid air at the full body flinch. Okay, no touching then. 

“Lina,” she says, softly, “Love, what’s wrong?”

She looks like she’s about to answer, but the mere thought of whatever it was seems to make it worse. Catalina’s cries turn into sobs.

“Oh dear. Okay. I know, I know. It’s going to be okay, love. It’s going to be alright.” She continues her ministrations of hopefully comforting words, occasionally slipping into French. 

And then she is hit with a pang of sadness, because she would have been able to do this for her own daughter so long ago. Her Elizabeth had to learn to comfort herself, because Anne wasn’t there to be a mother to her. But Anne pushes that thought away for another time. There is a crying teenager in front of her- not her Elizabeth, but a crying teen nonetheless.

It is also quite the revelation to Anne in that moment that she truly does think of Catalina as someone she cares about in that way. As truthfully her daughter as Kitty is in this life, and perhaps just as important in her heart as Elizabeth was and always will be. _And damn, isn’t that weird._ She also files that thought into the ‘ _deal with later’_ part of her brain.

The crying eventually subsides enough that Catalina is breathing okay, so Anne is able to calm down herself. She resolves to finally ask her what’s going on. And the answer is _heartbreaking._ If not only for the exhausted, defeated tone, then for the words themselves and what they imply. 

She looks up, eyes devoid of anything but the lack of hope and anything good, and finally speaks up.

“I just don’t know what you all _want_ from me.” She whispers, “I can’t figure it out.”

Anne responds slowly, “We don’t want anything, love.”

Catalina’s eyes look dubious, as if she knows for a fact she’s being lied to. Like when Anna said she didn’t know where the caramel ice cream went, only this time it’s much sadder.

“We don’t,” Anne insists, “I promise we don’t.”

The girl shakes her head, “You don’t understand.”

Anne does understand. This actually makes a lot of sense, all things considered. For all of them in their old lives, love was conditional. But most of them only had to deal with that as adults. However, for Catalina, as well as Kitty, their entire lives were based on conditional love.

Catalina in particular had it rather rough. Not in the way Kitty had it rough, but still. Because for Catalina, she was raised with the idea that she had to give something in order to be valued. She was born to be a trading piece for Spain. She was expected to be a diplomat, always knowing what the other party wanted and delivering.

As a wife she was expected to provide an heir, expected to provide so much it’s no wonder she couldn’t deliver. Henry Was brutal with his demands of everyone around him, Anne knows first hand that he was harsh to those he held close. As a queen she needed to be good to her people to gain their love.

As a mother she was held to a certain standard. Though Mary may have been the only one to love her mother unconditionally. And to a fault, so Anne can see why Catalina would have such a hard time with unconditional love.

“Does Jane hate me now?”

There’s so much vulnerability in her voice. Normally Catalina would never put her trust in another’s answer to such a question, so this must be a very big breaking point for her. Anne’s heart squeezes as she answers.

“No, dear. She was just very worried and overwhelmed and she handled it wrong.”

Catalina nods slowly. She looks properly young right now. Every bit a broken sixteen year old.

The response seems to relax her a bit though, “Okay.”

It can't be that easy. There is no way that she would just agree on that if it was stressing her that bad.

“Okay?”

Another nod. “Okay.”

At Anne’s confused demeanor, she elaborates a bit. “You would know, right? I mean, you’re all kind of in the same position with me. So if you say that that wasn’t enough to make her give up, I believe that.”

Give up?

“Catalina, we are never going to give up on you.”

“You say that. But one day I’ll go too far, or you’ll realize what you really want, or-“ She flounders for a moment, trying to figure out the right wording, then gives up.

“-Or _something,_ and then you’ll give up. I just wish you’d do it already, because this is exhausting.”

Okay, so fighting her on this won’t work, because she sounds so dead set on this. She’s saying everything as if it's a concrete fact, and for her it is. Anne tries a different route.

“What can I do to make it easier for you? Besides giving up, because I’m never doing that.”

Catalina looks at her, contemplative. It’s quiet for a long while before she finally speaks. When she does it sounds as though she’s had a realization.

“It’s actually not you.” She murmurs.

“What’s not me?”

She has some trouble putting it into words. “You’re not- I mean, well- It’s just that, I just mean-“ Catalina stops, trying to figure out her words. Anne patiently waits for her to finish.

“I just mean that you don’t do much. That’s upsetting, I mean. The others are less… patient? That’s not the right word. Jeez.”

Anne struggles to follow, but tries. “So, it’s not what I do that makes it hard for you. It’s the others?”

The teen lights up a bit when she is understood, “Yes! Yes. You’re calm, I think. And you normally don’t give off the vibe that you’re frustrated with me, or that you want to give up. Even if you should.”

Brows furrowed, Anne asks the first question that comes to mind.

“And the others do?”

The silence speaks for itself.

“Oh, Lina-“

“It’s fine. I do stuff wrong all the time. Like today-“

She goes on a tangent about how she deserves to feel that way. As if it’s justified that she feels like every time the others are upset with her that they’re going to hate her after. It’s a small miracle that Anne doesn’t make her feel that way; she’s very glad she’s made all that effort not to scream at Catalina. 

Every example fills Anne with more dread. This entire time, Catalina has felt as though she isn’t worth their love. She’s been counting down the days until they all leave her. It’s been going on this long, and none of them have noticed it.

Well, maybe Kitty has noticed it, but they keep those kinds of things between themselves. There’s a trust there that’s never broken. Secrets are kept, but at least they have each other. Anne would never be upset with them for looking out for each other.

“You are my family. You know that, right?” She asks when Catalina stops defending their behavior toward her. She makes a mental note to tell everyone to adjust the way they address issues with Catalina.

She gets a hesitant nod in response. Also an apology, which is ridiculous.

“Why on earth are you sorry?”

She watches as Catalina leans her head back on the head rest behind her, exhausted. 

“So, _so many_ things.”

“Tell me.”

A sigh, Catalina squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, and then lets her exhaustion from the day take over her posture. She is no longer tense, she honestly looks so defeated. 

“For starters, saying I’m not. For being mean to Jane. I know I hit a nerve with the mother thing; that was uncalled for. For staying out too late. For having an attitude with you about my clothes earlier. For being difficult, family shouldn’t be this hard.”

She sounds a bit like she’s in a confessional. As if this has been eating away at her and she’s finally able to get it out.

Anne nods, trying to gage where to start with this. There's a lot to unpack here, so maybe she should begin with the easiest.

“Well, I forgive you for the attitude earlier. And also for saying you’re not, because it was in the heat of the moment, and we haven’t been doing a good job of showing that you are. _I’m_ sorry about that.”

Before Catalina can protest being apologized to, she continues quickly. 

“As for being mean to Jane, that’s a conversation for you to have with her. Though I do think she’ll forgive you. She also owes you an apology, so it will be a good conversation to have. And you don’t need to apologize for missing your curfew. It’s not as if it was on purpose. But you are forgiven, thank you.”

The girl looks out the window before asking quietly, “Do you really think she’ll forgive me?”

“I am positive that she’ll forgive you, Catalina. Sometimes family _is_ hard. It’s about getting over those obstacles, and wanting to be better for each other.”

For some reason, they lapse back into silence after that.

This conversation is very hard to have, because Anne still is not used to being the trusted adult. The person that everyone goes to for comfort or advice. She’s supposed to know how to fix this. 

She doesn't know how to fix this.

There’s something else. This has been building, it has to have been for Catalina to break like that. But how is she going to get Catalina to confide in her if she’s not confident in her ability to make any of this better? 

After going through so many different routes in her head, all ending with worst case scenarios, she chooses to be direct. At least if she’s direct it’s clear what she wants from this conversation, and they’re both on the same page.

“Would you feel comfortable talking about what else is going on with you?”

Catalina looks briefly panicked, like she’s been caught. Caught doing what, Anne has no idea. But hopefully she’ll find out.

“Nothing.” Her expression is schooled back into neutral.

That’s not true, because Anne would need to be blind and deaf to have missed the tension between their two resident teens. Normally the two are connected at the hip. One going out without the other is unheard of. But recently they’ve been avoiding each other. Nothing too bad, they still talk, but they haven’t gone out with each other or made any plans recently. All of the queens have noticed, it’s been very concerning.

That's only one thing, too. But this is the only thing Anne feels comfortable prying into at all.

“Why haven’t you and Kit been getting along recently?”

She jolts as if it's caught her off guard, then snaps that they’re fine. Which means that they’re anything _but_ fine. And so Anne persists.

“You don’t have to tell me everything. But is there something I can help with?”

“No.”

“Come on, there has to be something. Might as well get it out while we’re sharing.”

_“We_ aren’t sharing. I haven’t heard anything from you since we started.”

She sighs, then makes a snap decision. 

“Okay, so I’ll tell you something, and then you’ll tell me something. It can be anything. Not just bad stuff.”

“Like a question game?”

Catalina’s eyes shine at the thought of it being a game. She actually really likes that game, it’s something fun to satiate her ever growing curiosity. Usually while they’re with someone from this century she’ll ask question after question. It’s sort of childlike, in a way.

Anne recalls the time Catalina played a similar game with a man on the phone. Not the safest way to go about it. Since then they’ve all made an effort to have her ask her questions at home with them. She’ll go from asking Anne about how the engine of the car works, to asking Cathy about human anatomy. And she even hasn’t stopped asking Jane about butterflies since she found out Jane knows a ton of information about them. _(“Jane, look at that butterfly! What kind is it? Where does it usually live? What does it eat? What does the caterpillar look like?”)_

And to make her less embarrassed at the small quirk, they’ve turned into a game. She asks a question, then they get to ask one. Easy.

“What do you want to know?” Anne asks. It’s easier to let Catalina start. Especially because Anne has no idea where to start.

Catalina jumps right in, “Why do you not hate me?”

Anne blinks, “I can’t. You’re just a kid, I can’t hate a kid. And I have literally no reason to, so there’s that. Why do you not hate me?”

“You take care of everyone. And Kitty loves you.” 

That makes sense. But Anne did hear the unspoken _‘You take care of Kitty and I.’_

“Do you think I’m annoying?”

“God, no. Lina, if anything, you’re the least annoying person in the house.”

It’s true. Mostly because the girl hardly leaves her room enough to bother anyone. Though in hindsight that’s probably because she thinks they’ll kick her out if she’s annoying.

“Are you and Kitty okay?”

Catalina hesitates, which isn’t a good sign. “I don’t know. I think so.”

Anne would like to ask a little further into that, but she needs to wait her turn.

“Why do you and Jane take turns ‘parenting’? I don’t get it.”

That actually gets Anne to laugh. They do take turns in a way, but it’s not a formal thing. It’s more like they both have certain qualities that make certain situations easier. When she explains this, Catalina tries to get it.

“Oh. So you don't like to, so Jane gets to yell at me. But Jane freaks out when she has to actually take care of people, so you do that.”

“You make it seem like a good cop, bad cop situation. I promise it’s not that on purpose. Sometimes we notice the other getting overwhelmed and we step in. I should have stepped in a little earlier than I did when she was yelling at you. Sorry.”

Catalina forgives her, and urges her to ask another question.

“When did you and Kitty stop talking?”

The teen looks down at her lap, guilt all over her face.

“If I tell you something, do you promise not to yell? It’s all my fault, not Kit’s.”

She promises, slightly scared of what could possibly warrant that. Catalina bites her lip, and quietly speaks up.

“I got drunk- and this is my fault. Kitty had nothing to do with it. But then the next day I had a headache from the hangover and I made Kit sneak me some medicine from the cabinet. She didn’t want to, because Jane is super specific about that cabinet, but I made her. And now things are weird.”

She won’t look up at Anne, and has no idea what the reaction to this will be. So Anne has to be very careful here. She doesn’t want to scare the girl. Don’t get her wrong, she’s upset that Catalina stole from the cabinet, and she’s upset she got drunk. They’ll need to lock the alcohol in the house up now. But she needs more information first.

A deep breath only seems to make her more tense, and the silence isn’t helping in the slightest. Catalina seems braced for the worst, despite knowing that Anne usually keeps her temper in check when speaking to her.

“Alright. Okay, calm down. You’re not in trouble, I’m glad you told me.”

That gets her to peak up a bit. “You’re not angry?”

“No, love. A little disappointed, considering I trust you a lot. But I’m not angry with you.”

This just seems to confuse her, but she doesn’t say anything. Anne keeps her voice even and soft, in an attempt to keep the peace.

“When was this?”

Hesitation, then, “... Two month ago.”

_Two months? Isn’t that-?_

“The first time we left you two alone for the night.”

The only response to that is a small nod. Catalina still doesn’t seem fully convinced that Anne isn’t going to explode at her. Which only furthers Anne resolve in staying calm.

“Well, I do believe it’s your turn to ask a question.”

Catalina eyes her warily, as if this may be a trick. Anne makes sure that when she looks all she sees is reassurance. “Go on and ask, love.”

“Hm,” She hums quietly, thinking, “Is there anything at all that would make the others really leave me? Be honest.”

It’s clear she wants an answer. One that can tell her what not to do, what line not to cross. She wants to know how she can avoid being left alone. So bad that she doesn’t take Anne’s answer of nothing at all. 

“There’s nothing you need to do to make us stay, Lina. We’re not going anywhere.”

“What about when I’m grown?”

“You think your age has anything to do with this? Technically we’re all well over five hundred, age has nothing on us.”

“What if I hurt someone?”

“I’ll ask what they did to deserve it.”

“What if I hurt a queen?” 

“I’ll ask why, and try to help you through it.”

“What if-?” 

“My turn! Have you had any alcohol since that night?”

A shake of her head. So, she’s been sober since. Good, they don’t need to deal with an alcohol problem on top of everything else. Catalina asks another question.

“Has Kitty talked to you about if she’s mad at me? I can’t figure it out.”

“No, she hasn’t.”

The defeated look is so upsetting to see that Anne has to look away. Outside the window she can see less and less cars coming by. One more look at the clock says they’ve been out for an hour.

“Anything else you wanna tell me before we go home?’

Catalina is silent for long enough that Anne catches her hesitation. Although she’s not sure what else could be worse than raiding the alcohol cabinet at home and lying for two months about it. But eventually the girl just shakes her head, indicating that she’s done sharing.

So Anne pulls out of her spot in this gas station parking lot and heads toward home.

“I have a question. Why don’t you wear your locket anymore?”

Her passenger huffs out a sound that sounds somewhat like a laugh, but it was more like a bitter sigh. “It broke when we were in the foster home.”

Eyes wide, Anne offers to fix it. Their jewelry is very important to them. Anne has a small charm bracelet with Elizabeth’s initials attached, as well as a small crown charm. It’s cute, Anne wears it every day. Catalina used to wear her necklace every day as well. Anne cannot imagine how she’d handle her bracelet breaking, especially in an unfamiliar place with people she doesn’t trust.

“No, don’t worry. Kitty got it fixed as a present as soon as we got back. That's why she started demanding money for doing things around the house.” She actually laughs a bit at that.

Anne remembers that. When she’d brought it up to Sam, the social worker had said it was a normal thing. ‘Chores’, lots of kids had them. And, well, if it gave Kitty incentive to do the dishes every night, then Anne is more than willing to pay. Catalina has a few too, like setting the table or cleaning up the attic. (Which is used as a recreational room for them all. But Catalina and Cathy spend a lot of time playing Mario Kart in there, so it’s her job to clean it. Cathy usually helps) _(Cathy doesn’t get paid, which she says is unfair.)_

Kitty did that to get the locket fixed? That is so sweet! The bond between the two youngest of the group really amazes Anne at some times. It’s the lack of hesitation to do kind things like that that really make it special.

“Why not just ask one of us to get it fixed?”

They get supplied money. Something about _lower income_ and _unemployment_ and _dependents_. It’s more than enough to get a piece of jewelry fixed.

Catalina winces a bit. “It’s hard to explain. We didn’t want to bother anyone.”

Before Anne can assure her that it wouldn’t be any trouble at all, and that they should always ask, the girl tries again to explain.

“We’d just come from a situation where we were only getting basic necessities. There was no ‘just asking for things’ or people just being nice to be nice. Someone there actually broke it on purpose. We just, didn’t want to ask. We weren’t comfortable enough yet.”

That makes a bit of sense, so Anne nods back like she understands. And then she bites her tongue when she wants to ask more into that situation, because Catalina doesn’t like to talk about it.

“Well, I’m glad you’re more comfortable now.”

“Me too.” 

When they get home all the lights are off, signaling that everyone listened to Anne and went to bed. Catalina opens her door, ready to walk in and go to bed. But Anne stops her half way up the walkway.

“Hey. I’m happy you talked to me tonight. I really hope you feel better.”

Catalina looks at Anne with an absolutely unreadable expression. She’s not sure what to do or say here, because really Catalina is just looking at her not saying anything.

Then, she sees slight tears in her eyes.

“Lina, wha- _Oh!”_

She’s pulled into a bone crushing hug. Not like when Kitty hugs her and she squeezes Anne’s middle. No, she’s pulled down into Catalina. Arms wrap around her shoulders and draw her in and she has to maintain her balance and not knock them both over by pitching forward. 

She hugs back. Of course she hugs back. It occurs to her that this is only the second hug they’ve shared ever. Both meaningful, though this one is way more sure. This one means something else. The first one was the realization that they are a family. This one is what that entails. 

This one is the one that makes them realize they love each other. Which is terrifying.

They don’t let go for a long time. Anne only pulls away when Catalina seems ready to end it. Last time Anne had initiated the hug and Catalina had done that, so it’s only fair Anne does the same.

“Thanks.” Catalina whispers.

Anne smiles gently back at her, near tears herself. 

“Any time.”

Catalina lets out an insanely long yawn, and Anne decides it’s well past time to end the night. They both head inside and go to bed, hearts so much lighter and minds so much clearer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought!! What was your favorite part of the conversation? How do you guys feel about Catalina not telling the whole truth? How about Anne’s thought process when it comes to comforting Catalina? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who said Catalina was the only one making bad decisions?

There was a moment where Kitty had thought to herself,  _ “This is a bad idea. Maybe I should not do this.” _ That moment has long passed in a flurry of excitement and adrenaline.

The car she’s in is a nice little white Subaru, nothing too fancy. As a matter of fact it’s pretty old. But it runs, and it belongs to the girl next to her, Lia, Kitty’s new best friend. It is also worth noting that Kitty is in the driver's seat doing a speed run of an abandoned parking lot.

“Left, left, left, left,  _ left!  _ Kit! You're gonna crash if you keep turning at the last minute!”

Her hand has a white knuckle grip on the handle atop the window. Although her hands and words say she is afraid, her voice and face are saying the opposite. 

Kitty laughs, nerves sky high and heart beating. She feels alive.

“You love this, really.” She accuses, and the girl beside her nods in acquiescence.

They talk about one day doing this in a nicer car. One made to race. Or maybe even on a motorcycle or dirt bike. That’d be fun, Kitty thinks, to try these turns on a bike of some kind.

And the thought of doing it with Lia, well, that just makes it better. She’s never had anyone stick around like that. No one has ever made her feel like their talk of the future is real.

Eventually they do get hungry, and the need to get fast food is just too great. Still though, Kitty refuses to give up the driver's seat.

“No one will pull us over if we both look the same age. I could easily have my license.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

The neighborhood they’re in isn’t a great one. There are plenty of empty lots and unregistered cars doing tricks into the night. Kitty’s not even the only teenager without a license driving around. Some would say that Kitty has fallen into the wrong crowd. Kitty would say she feels right at home.

She’s always been known for acting older than she was, regardless of context. If she’d known driving to be this fun back then, she’d have hijacked a carriage. But she didn’t know she’d like going fast like this back then. And she’d never had a friend like this before. As she pulls into yet another parking lot, though this one has a few other cars in it, she looks over to Lia. 

Dividing the food and smiling as if she has a bag of jewels and not a bag of fries, Kitty thinks she has also never had a friend this beautiful.

“Will you stop trying to horde the nuggets? I want an even share of nuggets!” Is how she expresses her gratitude for the pleasure of having a friend like Lia.

“Excuse me? Whose car is this?”

“And who paid for the food?” She counters, as if she really cares about the nuggets. It’s not about the nuggets, it’s about having something to say that will make her friend laugh.

Maybe she’s more reckless than she’d like to be in this life. But, she feels so good. She feels like this is worth it. She feels alive!

And damn, feeling alive and being alive are two different things. She hasn’t felt alive since she had her head chopped off. Waking up in this century was an adjustment, but the first time she felt alive in this life was the first time she’d hung out with Lia without Catalina.

_ “Isn’t this, like, illegal?” _

_ “Yes, that’s why Nat’s not here. I don’t need the lecture.” _

_ Breaking into an abandoned building was never something Kitty thought about doing. Truthfully she was considering leaving for the majority of the quest through the warehouse’s stairwells. But then the police showed up. _

_ “Run! Run!” _

_ They’d all piled into Lia’s car, a few of the girl's other friend’s scattered in an unorderly placement. They’d both somehow ended up in the back. And there, hearts beating a mile a minute, pushed together between two other teens in a car that is too small for the amount of people, Kitty had made up her mind. She’d follow Lia anywhere, so long as she looked at her like that afterwards. So long as it felt like this.  _

_ The adrenaline gave her a sense of peace, oddly enough. Her eyes lit up and her hands shook with excitement and she felt like life was worth being there for. For the first time she saw a point. She just wants to feel, just wants to have fun. _

She’d very much adopted Lia’s ‘here for a good time, not a long time’ attitude towards life in the short amount of time they’d been hanging out without the two more responsible people of their group. It’s not like they don’t want Nat and Lia around. It’s just known that they get super protective of the younger girls. And they would definitely object to Kitty driving around as recklessly as she has been. Really, they’d object to her driving period.

Beside that, Kitty and Catalina have been distant recently. Part of it is their mutual secret from the others, another is that Kitty has no idea what’s up with Lina recently, but she’s definitely hiding something. Whatever it is is likely the reason why Catalina and Jane had an argument last night. But Kitty doesn’t want to deal with that now, she’s having a great time. There’s also the fact that she doesn’t want Lina to find out about her driving adventures.

“Mom wants to know if you’re staying over tonight.”

Lia looks up from her phone to get Kitty’s reaction. As if it’ll be anything other than yes.

Last time they had a sleepover, Kitty had the time of her life. They’d stayed out so long that it barely counted as sleeping over Lia’s house. She drove all night, and they narrowly avoided an accident. This resulted in a lot of adrenaline induced laughter and Kitty being treated to celebratory ice cream for her reflexes. It’s almost as if the near disaster experience brought them closer. And when she finally had to go home, Lia hugged her so tightly that her brain short circuited. It’s been a long time since someone’s held her like that.

Also, when they do actually sleep, she holds Kitty just as tight. So that’s a plus.

“‘Course. Let me text Annie.”

**Kit-**

_ Staying over Lia’s tn  _

It takes just a moment before she receives a response.

**Annie-**

_ No problem. Stay safe! ❤️ _

Kitty grins at the response. There was no way Anne would have said no, but it’s so nice to have a guardian who cares about what she wants to do.

With the new information that they have all night together, they decide to drive a little further into the neighborhood to find something to do. Maybe something will catch their eye, or maybe they’ll just go home and watch bad movies. Either way, Kitty is content with her choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I’m going somewhere with all of this. Bare with me!


	21. Chapter 21

_ The day after the fight and car ride. _

When Catalina wakes up the next afternoon, not quite aware yet, the house is silent. Strange because there are six people in their home. Two teens, four just as rambunctious adults. Suffice to say, there is always,  _ always,  _ noise downstairs when Catalina wakes up. Except today there is none.

Kitty isn’t in their room, but that's normal. She’s an early riser. So Catalina stands, still drowsy from all the commotion from the night before. She’s unsure if she should go down into the living area of their home. Maybe they won’t be ready to see her. Honestly, she hasn’t even fully worked through it all in her head yet.

So, yesterday, Catalina fought with her family all morning, figured out Kitty must be mad at her, left to see her boyfriend who showed her a side of him she has yet to see before, then she got home late, resulting in yet another fight, and then she revealed a bit of her guilt and trauma to Anne while also omitting certain things that would cause more upset.  _ Eventful. _

On top of that, she found out that Anne also gets overwhelmed pretty often. With this realization, Catalina resolves to try not to get in Anne’s way too much. Her heart aches to know that the stress of the adoption likely caused her so much strife. Catalina spent so long being angry, and all Anne has done in this life is try to protect her. Truly, Catalina deserves worse.

But if she thinks about that too much she might cry again. And Catalina thinks she’s just about cried herself out for a while.

She walks tentatively to the door, and opens it. Complete silence, there is no one in the hall. Then she moves, silently so as to not break the peace, to the stairs and down them. There are low voices coming from the kitchen, so that's where she goes.

-

Jane and Anne were the first two up in the morning. 

It’s well known that Jane wakes in the early morning on good days, but with all the anxiety from the night before she woke up as the sun was just barely rising. She couldn’t help but check the room of the resident teens to make sure that Catalina got home safe last night. When she sees the sleeping figure in Catalina’s bed, she lets out a breath of relief. She had full faith that Anne would get her home safe last night, but going to sleep without the other two at home hadn’t sat well with her.

Anne on the other hand, didn’t sleep all night. She stayed up thinking. There were several conversations to be had, she wouldn’t be able to rest until she got them done. But it wasn’t like she could just go wake the other queens over it. No, it would just have to wait until the morning. Anne had also checked in on Catalina when she got out of bed for the day, just to be sure the girl was still there, still safe. When she found everything was okay, she moved on to the next room. She checked all of the bedrooms, only finding Jane was missing. Unsurprising, Anne had expected her to be the first to wake.

She made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to make herself some tea. When she went past the living room she saw Jane just sitting on the couch, not doing anything. 

Anne sets out a mug for Jane too.

While the water boils she gets out the eggs. Might as well make some breakfast while they're at it. 

“Need some help?” 

Anne turns a soft gaze to the woman at her quiet words. Best to be gentle, everyone is likely very fragile this morning. The kettle boils, and she turns her attention back to their breakfast.

“I don’t think so, love. Come and sit though.”

She makes Jane her tea, with just honey, and hands it to the woman as she obeys. Jane looks guilty. Does she think Anne is angry with her? That won’t do. Anne sets about making scrambled eggs, only just enough for the two of them. If anyone else wakes up she’ll make more, but this is a moment for them.

When she hands Jane a plate full of food, the woman still doesn’t look like she’s fully here yet. It’s as if her mind is completely pulled away from her body. First things first, get Jane fully present.

“We do need to talk about last night.” 

“I know.” 

“I’m not mad at you.”

Jane looks dubious, so Anne defends her point.

“I’m not. And neither is Lina.” 

At the mention of the girl, Jane perks up a bit. It’s clear that Jane loves her, Jane loves them all greatly. There is no doubt Jane cares for the kids of the house more than anything in the world.

“Lina’s not mad at you, and neither am I.” She reiterates. “But we do have to talk. Lina and I had a very long conversation last night and I need to fill you all in about some things.”

Brows furrowed, Jane responds, “What things?”

Anne can see the worry etched into the woman's face. It’s been there all night, she can tell. She wonders if Jane got any sleep at all after last night.

“Some things aren’t for me to say, they’re more personal. But she is planning on having a conversation with you. A conversation in which you will  _ both _ apologize for blowing up last night.”

Jane nods hurriedly, like she needs Anne to know, or really anyone to know, how sorry she truly is. But Anne does get it, last night was a bit overwhelming. It can get hard to keep your temper in situations like that.

“She definitely implied that we have to want something from her to keep her around. As if she has to earn our love. And she feels as though we are losing patience with her, like we are going to give up on her any day now.”

And of course Jane looks heartbroken at that statement, because she knows she certainly didn’t help those thoughts by yelling at her. Just the thought that anyone in their little family would think they don’t deserve unconditional love is almost too much to bear. Anne herself might just need a minute alone after all is said and done on her end.

Before Jane can respond, Anne needs to continue. That’s certainly not all that was said, and more points need to be made. Jane, and the others for that matter, need to know exactly how to help. 

“There were also some alarming thoughts on how everyone treats her when things are going wrong- and I just wanted to openly address this with you so that we can work towards making it better. Lina definitely feels like- well, when you act the way you were last night, not that she was behaving any better-“

“Anne, you can say it. I can handle it.” 

She glances down at Jane’s hands. They have a vice grip on her mug, and the plate of food is sitting untouched. She might not be able to handle hearing this, but she needs to.  _ So get on with it, _ she berates herself.

“When we blow up at her or get noticeably angry with her she feels like it’s all leading up to us kicking her out. Like, if she annoys us enough we’ll finally just give her away or something.”

Jane nods once, a slow and steady movement that seems to take a lot of effort to keep up. Then there’s silence for a while. 

Anne tries to give her time to process it. There’s a reason she was hesitant in bringing it up to Jane in particular. Not only was she a main factor in Catalina’s breakdown last night, she’s also consistently been the one known for her temper in the house. Her heart is in the right place, but she’s very quick to upset.

Hopefully once they get through this conversation they can all make an effort to be more patient.

It’s only when Jane makes eye contact with her once again that Anne speaks again. “You have to understand, everyone she’s ever known has wanted something out of her and then gotten rid of her.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t already make this connection.”

“You couldn’t have known it was this bad.”

“I’ve been basically making her think we hate her this whole time.”

“Now, I don’t think-“

“I hurt her-“

_ “Hey, _ ” Anne interrupts sternly. There is no way she’s letting Jane beat herself up. This isn’t just her fault, they all had a part in this. Jane stares back at her, snapped out of it. She’s listening now, at least. 

“We all messed up. Spiraling will not help. Now, we’re going to acknowledge it, apologize, and fix it. This, what you’re doing, isn’t productive. It’s just going to hurt you.”

“Sorry.”

Anne sighs. Jane’s gone back to staring at her plate, looking but not really seeing. Her mind has gone away again, deep in thought.

This is familiar. When they first came back, Anne could barely keep her mind in the present. She was too filled with thoughts of her past, of pain and regrets. She was also guilty and mourning. That was something Catalina was able to help her with considerably, considering how much she had also lost. Not that Anne confided in anyone much. But she was able to look around and see that spending her time angry and sad and in her head was not only unproductive, but also not a good example to set for the others. She’s the oldest, she needs to be there for them. 

It’s just as Anne herself was about to be lost in her own contemplation that Kitty walks into the kitchen. She stops in the doorway when she notices the tension in the room.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Anne smiles at her, because now is not the time to let her mind wander. She has a family to keep together.

“Of course not, love. Come sit, I’ll make you some eggs.”

Kitty complies, taking a seat next to Jane and requesting that her eggs be fried, not scrambled. Anne just nods along and listens to her start a conversation with Jane.

“Morning Janey.” 

She sounds a little nervous, and she never calls Jane that unless she wants something. In this case it could be that she wants Jane to stay calm. It may hurt more than it helps this morning.

But Jane just musters up her most believable smile and replies with a cheery good morning of her own. They’re on the same page then, good.

Kitty immediately relaxes when she senses no left over anger. “You gonna eat your toast?”

This at least gets Jane to actually look down at her plate, thank god. She allows Kitty to take the toast, and takes a small bite of food. It’s probably cold by now, but she makes no noise of complaint.

“You’ll get your own toast, why do you need hers?”

“It’s the principle. Toast is good, it deserves to be eaten by someone who will appreciate it.”

Anne laughs; count on Kitty to unintentionally lighten the mood.

“Is it alright if I hang out with Lia today?”

Anne turns around with a plate of freshly fried eggs and two pieces of toast. Kitty accepts it gratefully. At least she can get one of them to eat properly.

“I don’t see why not.”

“I just thought, well, after last night…”

Anne forces another soft smile onto her face. Reassure her, keep the family together.

“Last night was… tense. But Lina and I talked it out. Nothing to worry about.”

She’s sure Kitty knows about Lina’s insecurities. They might be distant right now, but they still are the closest of all of the queens. They know most everything about each other. She doesn’t need to explain Lina’s point of view to Kitty of all people, Kitty’s in a similar position.

Kitty nods hesitantly. Then, they are joined by another queen. This one is more unexpected, because this one never actually wakes up early. The rest of the people in the room are early risers by nature, it makes sense that they’d all be the first to be up for breakfast.

“Good morning. Want some eggs, Cath?”

The response is a grunt that sounded a little bit like a no, so instead of cooking some more Anne just makes some coffee for the newcomer. As she sets the coffee pot, Cathy sits bleary eyed on the counter. Now, usually Anne or Jane would tell her to get down, but the morning is still fragile, they don’t have the heart to scold anyone.

Instead she just leans on the counter next to Cathy and asks how she slept.

“Not very well,” Her voice is weak from disuse, and she yawns half way through her sentence before starting again, “What time did you guys get home last night?”

Anne hums sympathetically, rubbing Cathy’s knee as if to soothe the rough night away. “A little before two, I think. We had a long talk.”

Cathy tilts her head a bit, “What about?”

The coffee is done, so Anne uses this as an excuse to look away. She’s already decided not to say anything to Kitty. That has to be a separate conversation that includes Catalina. Certain parts pertain to Kitty specifically, and should be handled personally.

“Cream and sugar?”

Cathy shakes her head, “Black is fine.”

Anne nods and hands her the cup, which Cathy takes with a thanks. 

“S’Anna up yet?” Cathy mumbles, still not quite awake.

Jane shakes her head, telling her that so far it's just them.

-

When Anna wakes, the day has already long started. The sun is out, shining over the autumn colored leaves on the ground. It’s a beautiful sight to see. She stays in bed, staring out of the window. Her room is directly above their backyard, so she gets to see the colors of the trees change with the seasons.

Her eyes are on the trees, but her mind is on something else entirely. She’s wondering what she’ll be walking into when she goes downstairs. Will it be another argument? Or cold silence? There’s an anxious pit in her stomach as she thinks about it.

She also feels quite guilty, as she had tried to help mediate last night and failed miserably. Unable to do much more than watch everything build up and explode. She wonders just how late Anne and Catalina got home last night, and if either of them are awake yet. It took Anna hours to finally sleep, but she refused to leave her bed in case she ran into anyone. 

She stands before going to her door, deciding that she may as well get today over with. She opens it and steps through, running right into Cathy.

“ _ Oh! _ Hi Anna.”

She smiles at the smaller woman. Clearly Cathy was startled by the door opening as she was about to knock.

“Hi Cath.”

Cathy just smiles back at her for a moment. There’s a brief silence, then she seems to remember why she was there.

“I was coming to get you! Family meeting. Lina’s not up yet, but Anne says she doesn’t need to be there.”

Well, that sounds ominous as hell.

“Alright then.” She says, following Cathy through the hall and down the stairs.

When she asks if Kitty is invited, she is informed that the girl is staying over her friends tonight.  _ Which makes things even more ominous. Why are the kids not involved in this? _

The kitchen is filled with a dreadful vibe of anxiety. It does not help Anna’s already fraying nerves. But Anne is sitting calmly at the island counter with Jane, who looks noticeably less calm.

Anna has a bad feeling.

“Anna! Good, would you like some eggs?”

Anne cheerily greets her, and accepts the shake of her head. Anna couldn't possibly eat right now, not with the knot in her stomach.

“Alright then. Have a seat, dear.”

_ Dear.  _ The term of endearment is only used on Anna when she’s in the aftermath of a bad panic attack, or if something bad is happening. Normally it calms her, but today it makes her heart rate spike.

She obeys, taking a seat next Jane. There’s a lump in her throat restricting her questions. But thankfully her eyes said enough, and they’re all here now so Anne can get on with it.

“So, I just wanna get right into it, I think. Firstly, I want to say that this is no one’s fault. None of us could have possibly known. But now we do, so we can work towards helping her. Rather than unintentionally hurting her, I mean.”

Cathy’s brows furrow, “Hurting her?”

Jane winces, and Anne elaborates.

“Mainly, I think we haven’t been taking into account Lina’s abandonment issues. Because last night we had a rather enlightening conversation about how we handle conflict with her and how it affects her mentally.”

Anna hesitates before deciding to voice a question. “So, how can we fix that?”

Anne nods, seemingly thankful that her explanation is being taken relatively well so far.

“Not yelling would be step one. And exercising a little patience so that she isn’t under the impression that you want her to leave.”

Eyes widening in realization, Cathy asks a slightly more panicked question.

“She thinks we want her gone? What does that mean?”

The leader of the conversation stays impressively calm as she responds. Her resolve to be the rock of the family is impressive.

“She thinks if she pisses us off enough, we’ll give up on her. But we’re going to make more of an effort to prove that wrong. Alright?”

They all agree, astounded that Lina could possibly think they’d just kick her out like that. After all of that effort to get her back! Anyone in their family feeling excluded at all is an awful realization.

“Another notable thing is she truly does not believe she should get unconditional love. She genuinely thinks she needs to provide something to earn her place here. And it’s a very big point of anxiety for her that she can’t figure out what we  _ want _ from her.”

_ “We don’t want shit!” _ Anna interjects. Anne nods at her again, and the other two queens wholeheartedly express their agreement.

“We know that, yes, but we have to work on proving this to Lina.”

They get into just how to do that, multiple gestures being shot down because they might just be overwhelming to the girl. Some ideas they had might confuse her. Others were put on the back burner to come back to another time to improve. 

Anne is glad that she didn’t bring up how Catalina said Anne tends not to make her feel this. It would definitely bring about way more guilt than is necessary. Besides, it’s still partially Anne’s fault it got this out of hand. She should have noticed what was happening sooner.

She watches the others work out a plan to help with pride. As long as they care this much, everything will be okay.

All conversation stops when another person quietly joins them. 

They’re all staring at her when she walks in, which makes Catalina want to run straight back to her room. But she wants to make an effort, so she’s staying. They all have a strange look on their faces. It almost looks like guilt, although that can’t be it, because this whole thing was her own fault.

“Er, good morning- um, afternoon, I mean. Or, uh, hi.”

She can’t be blamed for her nervous fumbling though, because it’s totally not her fault that they’re all staring. It’s weird and creepy.

Anne, of course, is the first to respond. She jumps off of the stool she was sitting on and walks over to Catalina. Pulling her over to take the seat she was previously in, she offers her breakfast. (Or brunch.)

She accepts the offer for scrambled eggs, and wonders why on earth the others are still just staring at her. 

She meets their gaze, and asks, “Um, did I do something? Did you need-?”

_ “We don’t need anything.” _ Jane interrupts fiercely. Wrong move, because this just makes Catalina flinch and look down at the counter.

“Oh, okay.”

What she doesn’t see is the other two glaring at Jane for the response.

“What she means,” Anna tries to save the conversation, “is that we’re all just happy to see you here and safe after last night.”

“Oh.”

There’s an awkward silence after that. No one seems to want to make the first move. It takes the entirety of Anne making Catalina’s eggs for anyone to speak.

“Catalina,” Jane calls softly.

The teen slowly looks up, but holds the woman's gaze. It’s almost like she’s bracing herself for the worst.

“I’d like to be the first to apologize. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. It’s just, I was scared and I handled it badly.”

A brief flicker of surprise crosses Catalina’s face, though you would have missed it if you weren’t watching carefully. However, they were watching, so they caught it and felt immediate guilt that she’d be surprised by an apology.

Instead of addressing the apology outright, she chuckles and points out, “You know, that’s almost exactly what Anne said was happening.” 

“Oh?” Jane glances at Anne, who looks rather interested in the dishes she’s washing.

“Mhm, and she said that we were both overreacting. So, all good.”

_ All good? This is not all good! They haven’t even begun to discuss everything. _

“Catalina, you know we love you, right?”

She looks at Cathy now, seeming a bit thrown off.

“Of course?” The confusion about where the conversation is heading is apparent on her face. They can only hope this gets through to her.

Cathy seems a little bit reassured though, so she nods. “Good.”

The conversation goes stagnant at that point. No one knows how to break the awkward silence, and Anna’s anxiety rises with every second. It’s unbearable.

But Catalina, as always, is the more stubborn of the bunch. She refuses to be afraid of anything, even an awkward conversation. It’s because of this that Anna relaxes once more as she listens to her question.

“Where’s Kitty?”

“With Lana, she’s staying over her house tonight.”

Catalina raises her eyebrows in an unimpressed fashion, but quickly pretends she didn’t by nodding. “Oh, okay.”

“What’s up with you and Lana?” Anna bluntly asks. Catalina shakes her head upon being called out for the reaction.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Like, critically nothing.”

“What on earth does that even mean?” Anne butts in with a laugh.

The girl gives a small huff of a laugh herself, “I have nothing in common with that girl at all. And her vibes are off, can’t be around people who’s vibes are off. You know?”

Anna knows, yes, but she can tell that Jane has legit no idea what the word vibe has to do with Lana’s friendship with their girls. Noticing this, Catalina tries to explain.

“Her vibes are okay, like Nat’s, but slightly to the left. Like the same energy but not the same intent.”

Jane is bewildered, and if she’s being honest Anna is slightly lost now too. She knows the word vibe in association to people, Kitty taught her this, but now Catalina’s talking energies and what’s off about them and things that Anna was not trained for. They did not mention this in the parenting classes. Kitty taught her enough slang that she’s considered ‘the cool one’ by the two youngest, but to be frank she has no idea what half of the words mean.

But she nods along, because she is the one who is in touch with the youth and will continue to be known as such. Cathy seems to be following though, so maybe she’ll ask for clarification at some point later.

“So you don’t like her?” Jane inquires.

She shakes her head, “Not that I don’t like her, just that it feels weird if it’s just me and her. I’d rather it be in a group.”

They need to get back on track though, so Anna pulls the conversation in the correct direction.

“Are you done with your eggs?”

_ Sorta.  _ She’s still too nervous.

Catalina nods, standing to put her plate in the sink. However Anne just takes it out of her hand before she can stand, preventing her from escaping the tension.

Jane stands, “You know what? Catalina, can you help me in the study for a moment?”

Eyes widening, Catalina tries to protest, but Jane won’t have it.

“It’ll only take a second, please?”

And, well,  _ how could Catalina say no to Jane saying please? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS SO HARD TO WRITE OH MY GOD  
> Idk what it was but words were not coming to me, jfc.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this kinda boring chapter, but it’s like really important set up. Also, enjoy Anna’s inner turmoil over modern slang and trying to be the ‘cool mom’. ‘Cool aunt’??? She has fun Aunt who quotes vines but has never seen them actually energy.


	22. Chapter 22

Catalina follows Jane to the study with minimal complaint. Mostly because she can sense that things are still rather fragile and she doesn’t want to make anything worse. When they get in there though, quite predictably, Jane doesn’t actually need help with anything. She just sits on the small sofa in the corner of the room and pats the seat beside her.

She waits for Catalina to be seated comfortably before beginning. She also doesn’t say anything when Catalina stalls by shifting in her seat to get extra comfortable.  _ Small mercies. _

“I want to start off by apologizing once more. The way I spoke to you last night was uncalled for.”

Catalina can already feel the lump in her throat restricting her airway. Not a good sign, seeing as it’s the beginning of the damn conversation.

“It’s fine.”

Jane sighs, “It’s not though. I wish you could see that.”

The teen just stares at Jane unable to see where this conversation is going. She’d expected an apology. But she didn't see the refusal to accept the acceptance of the apology coming.

“Can you tell me what I can do from now on when we get into a disagreement? I don’t think fighting like that is productive at all honestly.”

Jane has never been concerned over their reactions to each other before. Usually they yell at each other and then stop talking, then in the morning they eat breakfast and Catalina gets less of a hassle about how much she eats and in return Jane gets to info-dump about her latest needlepoint project. They never talk about it, why would this time be different?

_ Unless… _ Shit.

“Anne talked to you, then.” She observes.

Jane looks mildly panicked as she tries to get them back on track.

“She didn’t tell me everything! Only that me yelling at you isn’t good because you react badly emotionally.”

Catalina had known Anne would speak to the others, clearly they needed to be placated. They left in the middle of a very tense conversation, coming back and acting like nothing happened wouldn’t work. But still, Catalina wants to know what exactly Anne told them.

“So, what? She said I can’t handle arguments and now you’re never going to yell at me again?”

“No-“

“Right, so what happens if I piss you off then? Are you just going to take me into the study and talk in circles every time?”

“Catalina, that is not-“

“Are you all just going to pretend to know me and what I think? As if one conversation with Anne Boleyn is just going to give you all the information you need-“

_ “Hey!” _

Catalina stops, looking at Jane, who looks rather upset by all of the implications. 

“Anne wants you to be comfortable. That’s all she wants. That’s all any of us want. That’s why we’re having this conversation. I’m not going to pretend that one conversation with Anne- who cares very much about you, and knows you better than you might think, by the way- is going to give us all the insite we need about your brain. I never meant to imply that. But I would like to know what you need from now on to feel properly like you are a part of this family.”

_ Ah, so that’s what Anne told her. _

“Does that make sense to you?”

_ Yes, I understand completely. _

“Sorry.”

Jane reaches out, and rubs Catalina’s arm soothingly. She’s seen her do this with all of the others before. It’s never been Catalina. This is new.  _ They never usually talk about it. _

“It’s okay, love. I probably should have started with that.”

“I’m sorry for escalating the argument last night, too.” And she is. Truly, deeply, apologetic and regretful for hurting Jane. Also, for letting Anne trick her into opening up like that and making Jane feel bad for rightfully snapping at her.

“Well, I certainly had a hand in it. How about we agree that we both could have handled it better?”

Catalina nods. Jane smiles. 

Catalina will never confide in Anne again.

-

“Is that my sweater?”

Catalina looks at Cathy, then at the door. How can she never get out of the door without someone stopping her? She resolves to try the back door next time.

“Yeah, I left mine at Nat’s.”

“Are you going to get it?”

“Yes.” And that is technically not a lie.

Cathy smiles, “Don’t leave mine, okay?”

Catalina nods, walking out the door and down the same path she walked yesterday. There’s a feeling of dread that wasn’t there yesterday though, she tries to ignore it.

The car is parked two spots over from where it was, and this time Eric is not waiting outside of it for her with a warm hug. Her stomach does another flip and she tells herself to get it together. It’s not as if he’s anyone to be afraid of. She gets in the passenger seat and greets her boyfriend with fake cheeriness.

He just starts driving. No hello, no hand holding, no acknowledgement. She tries again.

“Eric?”

Nothing.

“Love?”

Again, nothing. She tries grabbing his hand, and he keeps it loose so that she’s the only one making an effort.

_ “Babe!” _

Eric rolls his eyes.

“What?”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m driving.”

“You can say hello.”

_ “Hello.” _

Now it’s Catalina’s turn to roll her eyes. She lets go of his hand and dramatically huffs, sinking into her seat.

“So, how did your night go when you got home?”

Catalina’s brows furrow, “Why?”

“Well, I texted you a bunch of times. But you were ignoring me, so what were you doing?”

She cannot believe she has to deal with this crap. Seriously, can’t he just enjoy the day with her?

“Are you kidding? You know my phone was dead.”

He laughs, as if her words were just excuses. “And you just couldn’t charge it, right?”

“I was dealing with my family freaking out at me!”

“I still think you could have charged your phone.”

“You have  _ no idea _ how badly me getting home late went down.”

“Right, I forgot. You’re too immature to use conflict resolution skills. Just like last night when you started an argument with me over nothing.”

“I am  _ not-“ _

He talks right over her, “We really need to work on that. No one else is going to tell you this, but you’re really bad at having productive conversations.”

He pulls into a parking lot; one to a restaurant, not to his apartment complex. She just goes along with it when he gets out and walks in, not questioning it.

“You’re no better at it.”

“You make it impossible! Are you really going to do this here? It’s embarrassing.”

“I-“

“I’m trying to do something nice for you and take you on a date. And you’re turning this into an argument.”

Catalina doesn’t get to respond, because a very hesitant looking hostess comes over and leads them to a small booth.

It’s quiet when they get to their table. They order their drinks and stare at their menus in silence. Or, in Catalina's case, stare out of the window at the cars going by. And then, before either of them can bring any kind of conversation to the table, Catalina gets the shock of her life. 

Because she swears,  _ swears on her own grave, _ that the car that just pulled into the parking lot is being driven by Kitty. 

“Shit.”

“What?”

She watches Kitty get out of the  _ driver's seat  _ of the car and grab Lia’s hand. She’ll think about  _ that _ later, they’re heading into the restaurant now.

“Shit!”

“Lina, what? What’s wrong?”

The two girls walk toward the restaurant, and Catalina stands up abruptly. Why was Kitty driving? She’s not even old enough to drive! And she’s holding Lia’s hand! Are they together now? How has Catalina missed that?

“We have to go. Right now.”

“Why?”

She points to the two people who just walked in. 

“That’s my-“  _ My what?  _ “My sister.”  _ Yeah, that’s closest. _

“And?”

“She doesn’t know about you. We need to leave.”

“Really? You-“

_ “We don’t have time for this. _ Get up-“

“-Lina?” Catalina freezes. God, this whole week is cursed. Not one thing has gone well for her.

“Lia! Kit! What’s up?” Kitty looks at her, then at the person behind her, very suspiciously. 

“Who’s that?”

“He’s-“

Kitty seems to not hear, and cut’s off whatever Catalina was about to say. Actually kind of a good thing, because Catalina has no idea where she was going with that.

“Actually, you know what? I forgot my wallet in the car. Lina, can you come with me to grab it?”

_ Shit. _

She follows the younger girl dutifully, with one last look at her undoubtedly confused boyfriend and Kitty’s apparent girlfriend following another hostess to a different table. They make it all the way to the car before Kitty turns on her.

“Who is that?” 

“A friend.”

“Of who? I don’t know him.”

“I met him through Nat.”

Kitty looks like she’s ready to poke holes in that, so Lina needs to derail this conversation.

“Are you and Lia dating now?”

She looks caught off guard by that question. “What? No!”

“You were holding her hand.”

“She’s my best friend!”

Lina rolls her eyes. Whether this is because it’s an obvious cover for the truth, or because of hurt because Catalina definitely was Kitty’s best friend before all of this, is to be determined.

“You are definitely on a date right now.”

“We are not!”

“Kit, you are on a date.”

She opens her mouth to argue, then her eyes widen and she shuts it. There’s a moment of complete silence, and after that Kitty seems to have a hell of a realization.

“Am I on a  _ date _ right now?”

Catalina can’t help but laugh, “Yes, Kit. That definitely looked like a date.”

_ “Oh my god!” _

Catalina was laughing softly at first, but now she’s hysterical. “Did you seriously not know?”

“No! Oh my god.”

The diversion seems to have worked, but then Kitty’s mood shifts as if she’s noticed they’re way off topic. 

_ Shit, shit, shit. _ And, well, this may as well be Catalina’s mantra from this point on. It’s all she’s thought for the past thirty minutes and thing’s only seem to be getting more distressing.

“Are  _ you _ on a date right now?”

“Kit,” Catalina hesitates. She doesn’t want to lie. Honestly, keeping this from Kitty is the most exhausting thing she’s done in this new life. She hates not having anyone to talk to about Eric. Nat’s always cautious about him, so she can’t say anything that might make her not like him, and it’s not like anybody else in her life would approve of the situation.

And she needs advice; Catalina decidedly does not feel like being on this date right now. Not when Eric is acting all high and mighty and can-do-no-wrong.

“I am.” Is what she decides on. Simple, to the point, and not a lie.

Kitty’s brows furrow, “How old is he?”

Catalina sighs. There’s no getting out of this one. And for the first time she’s thinking that she’s gotten herself into a rather awful situation.

“Twenty four.” 

Kitty’s eyes widen in shock, it's as if she has no idea how to react. They stare at each other for a bit. Then Catalina looks away, unable to keep her gaze as it slowly moves from shock to something akin to disappointment.

But suddenly Kitty opens her mouth to react verbally and Catalina puts her hands up in an attempt to stop the oncoming argument.

_ “Listen, I know-“ _

_ “You have got to be kidding-“ _

_ “He’s really sweet-“ _

_ “He’s twenty four!” _

_ “And I’m over five hundred!” _

_ “You can’t seriously think this is okay-“ _

_ “It’s not like-“ _

_ “Lina-!“ _

Kitty grabs Catalina by the shoulders, forcing her to keep eye contact. She doesn’t speak for a bit, eyes searching as she physically seems to be calming herself down. Unsure what to do or say, Catalina refuses to stir in the grasp and allows Kitty to stare. 

What is she even looking for?

Finally, Kitty breaks the tense silence. “Are you being careful?”

Trust, she’s looking for something to trust. They need to trust each other again.

“Yes.” She promises.

More silence as Kitty tries to catch a lie in her tone or demeanor. Then, after a bit, she seems relatively satiated. 

“Okay.”

They make their way back to their respective dates, neither party too happy to have been left for that amount of time. All the same though, both teens are happy to not have to keep anything from the other anymore. Catalina saw Kitty driving, and Kitty saw Catalina’s boyfriend. It’s even now, so they can get back to confiding in each other.

_ They hope. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy. It’s been a while, huh?
> 
> I promise that this was an unintentional break, though I’m glad I did because I have so many ideas and I’m less creatively burned out now. I do apologize for disappearing without warning though.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! It’s an experiment, to say the least.


End file.
